imadisneyfanatic
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2000
- Messages
- 177
Dates: Oct. 29-Nov. 1
Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter
Cast: Me (34) - Mom and obsessive WDW planner. Addicted to DIS web site
DD (12 turning 13) - Obsessed with Splash Mountain. Has no idea she is going to WDW.
As planned, I drove 6 hours to University of Florida Medical Center in Gainesville, FL to take my daughter for her quarterly medical treatment. Every time, they take such a tremendous amount of blood that my DD is totally wiped out and sleeps for hours on our way back home.
As usual, I put her in the back seat and told her I would wake her up for lunch in a couple of hours. Well, I got on I-75 as usual but what she didn't know was I was headed SOUTH instead of NORTH!
Exiting the Turnpike onto I-4 there were cops and helicopters galore and traffic is totally stopped! What the heck? Is this the terrorist October surprise we kept hearing could happen?
Nope....it's John Kerry and his caravan of tour buses, secret service SUVs, fire trucks (for what???), and police cars. I am as patriotic as the next person, but get outta my way...I am trying to get to WDW!!!
Traffic cleared shortly (thank God) and we were back on our way (my daughter is still sleeping). I got to Port Orleans French Quarter and parked at the main building to check in. I then woke up my daughter and told her we had to eat lunch. She looks around very foggy and says "Mom! I see a Disney bus!". I told her she was imagining things (The bus stops are right there on the left and buses are coming and going at a very busy rate). She then says "No I am not - I have seen at least 4 Disney buses! Where are we?!". SURPRISE!!! YOU ARE AT WDW FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!
After several hugs, kisses, and "You're the best Mom in the whole wide world" we went to check in.
I waited in the check-in line about 5-10 minutes. I sent DD to the arcade to play while I checked in. I was very dismayed that I was going to be in building #1. (Looked farthest away on the map and I requested closest building possible). It was 1:30pm and they said all they could tell me was that I was in building #1 and where the best place to park was to be closest to my room (which could not be named under any circumstance). I got a card telling me to call a number from 3-5pm for my actual room number. They even went ahead and gave me 2 room keys activated for the room but could not tell me what the room number was.
Whatever, I am at WDW so it is fine. I am also told the resort is sold out for the entire weekend so there is no way to upgrade or move to another building. OK - still at WDW so no problem.
Spoke to DD about the situation. Explained that we could eat lunch in the food court and then hang around and explore the resort till 3pm or go to EPCOT directly after lunch and get the room after we return from the park at 9pm. Of course she wants to go to EPCOT directly after lunch. (Note: reason for EPCOT is that the Magic Kingdom closed at 6pm for that night's MNSSHP.)
Lunch at the food court was good (will post dining review later) and we left around 2:00pm to catch the bus to EPCOT. We were not sure about the whole "Fast Pass" thing since we had never used them in the past. We chose to wait in line for Test Track (sign said 25 min wait). It was great and they let us go twice since we were celebrating my DD's pending birthday the next day!
We decided that we should have gotten a Fast Pass and headed over to Mission Space (lesson learned). Went over to Mission Space. I was not about to ride that thing since I get motion sick really easy. DD had no wait since she went in the single rider line. I waited at the exit with several other chickens like me (we are smart chickens!). The longer I sat there the smarter I felt. Most people were coming out looking very ill and lying down on the nearest bench!
I am starting to worry about DD on the ride but she comes out soon after feeling fine but wanting a Sprite to settle her stomach. Note to ashtma Moms - the extreme G Force on this ride tends to take your breath away and you may need your inhaler directly afterwords.
Thinking I was smart and knew what my DD would want, I made a PS for dinner at Teppanyaki at 7pm. DD says she doesn't want to eat there - would prefer LeCellier. I called and tried to get a PS but LeCellier is booked for the night! I was able to get a PS for Garden Grille so that worked out fine! We went and watched "Honey I Shrunk The Audience" and the new Figment "Journey into Imagination" ride. We are big Figment fans and loved seeing him again.
Went to Garden Grille and enjoyed dinner. DD wanted us to leave just as Illuminations was starting. We were both exhausted and wanted to get back to the room.
Went to the Check in counter to verify my room number and location (it's now about 10pm). There was a long line at both Guest Services and Check In and both areas only had one CM working so there were lots of grumpy, tired guests in line. Finally the lady behind me calls over a gift shop CM and tells her to go get some help because they have been waiting a long time and have sleeping kids in the car (I am thinking - I hope not ALONE!!!). The CM comes back and says someone will be out shortly - they were on break. 3 CMs came out and the lines started rolling along (Why did they send 3 CMs on break at the same time?) Anyway, we were assigned room 1143 which was a courtyard view room. I felt very silly about being disappointed in the room location earlier because it really was a very short walk to the Food Court/Main Bldg. Everything is really compact - it just looks farther away on the map.
The room was BREATHTAKING!!!!
We have stayed at CBR and Riverside when it was Dixie Landings and the room just blew the others away! (Note: no refrigerator in room but I didn't need or request one). There is a built-in night light on the hair dryer. It is an amber color and stays on all the time so no need to pack a night light. We scheduled a wake up call and went to bed. Tomorrow is DD's 13th Birthday and we are celebrating at the Magic Kingdom!
Resort: Port Orleans French Quarter
Cast: Me (34) - Mom and obsessive WDW planner. Addicted to DIS web site
DD (12 turning 13) - Obsessed with Splash Mountain. Has no idea she is going to WDW.
As planned, I drove 6 hours to University of Florida Medical Center in Gainesville, FL to take my daughter for her quarterly medical treatment. Every time, they take such a tremendous amount of blood that my DD is totally wiped out and sleeps for hours on our way back home.
As usual, I put her in the back seat and told her I would wake her up for lunch in a couple of hours. Well, I got on I-75 as usual but what she didn't know was I was headed SOUTH instead of NORTH!
Exiting the Turnpike onto I-4 there were cops and helicopters galore and traffic is totally stopped! What the heck? Is this the terrorist October surprise we kept hearing could happen?
Nope....it's John Kerry and his caravan of tour buses, secret service SUVs, fire trucks (for what???), and police cars. I am as patriotic as the next person, but get outta my way...I am trying to get to WDW!!!
Traffic cleared shortly (thank God) and we were back on our way (my daughter is still sleeping). I got to Port Orleans French Quarter and parked at the main building to check in. I then woke up my daughter and told her we had to eat lunch. She looks around very foggy and says "Mom! I see a Disney bus!". I told her she was imagining things (The bus stops are right there on the left and buses are coming and going at a very busy rate). She then says "No I am not - I have seen at least 4 Disney buses! Where are we?!". SURPRISE!!! YOU ARE AT WDW FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!
After several hugs, kisses, and "You're the best Mom in the whole wide world" we went to check in.
I waited in the check-in line about 5-10 minutes. I sent DD to the arcade to play while I checked in. I was very dismayed that I was going to be in building #1. (Looked farthest away on the map and I requested closest building possible). It was 1:30pm and they said all they could tell me was that I was in building #1 and where the best place to park was to be closest to my room (which could not be named under any circumstance). I got a card telling me to call a number from 3-5pm for my actual room number. They even went ahead and gave me 2 room keys activated for the room but could not tell me what the room number was.
Whatever, I am at WDW so it is fine. I am also told the resort is sold out for the entire weekend so there is no way to upgrade or move to another building. OK - still at WDW so no problem.
Spoke to DD about the situation. Explained that we could eat lunch in the food court and then hang around and explore the resort till 3pm or go to EPCOT directly after lunch and get the room after we return from the park at 9pm. Of course she wants to go to EPCOT directly after lunch. (Note: reason for EPCOT is that the Magic Kingdom closed at 6pm for that night's MNSSHP.)
Lunch at the food court was good (will post dining review later) and we left around 2:00pm to catch the bus to EPCOT. We were not sure about the whole "Fast Pass" thing since we had never used them in the past. We chose to wait in line for Test Track (sign said 25 min wait). It was great and they let us go twice since we were celebrating my DD's pending birthday the next day!
We decided that we should have gotten a Fast Pass and headed over to Mission Space (lesson learned). Went over to Mission Space. I was not about to ride that thing since I get motion sick really easy. DD had no wait since she went in the single rider line. I waited at the exit with several other chickens like me (we are smart chickens!). The longer I sat there the smarter I felt. Most people were coming out looking very ill and lying down on the nearest bench!
I am starting to worry about DD on the ride but she comes out soon after feeling fine but wanting a Sprite to settle her stomach. Note to ashtma Moms - the extreme G Force on this ride tends to take your breath away and you may need your inhaler directly afterwords. Thinking I was smart and knew what my DD would want, I made a PS for dinner at Teppanyaki at 7pm. DD says she doesn't want to eat there - would prefer LeCellier. I called and tried to get a PS but LeCellier is booked for the night!
I was able to get a PS for Garden Grille so that worked out fine! We went and watched "Honey I Shrunk The Audience" and the new Figment "Journey into Imagination" ride. We are big Figment fans and loved seeing him again.Went to Garden Grille and enjoyed dinner. DD wanted us to leave just as Illuminations was starting. We were both exhausted and wanted to get back to the room.
Went to the Check in counter to verify my room number and location (it's now about 10pm). There was a long line at both Guest Services and Check In and both areas only had one CM working so there were lots of grumpy, tired guests in line. Finally the lady behind me calls over a gift shop CM and tells her to go get some help because they have been waiting a long time and have sleeping kids in the car (I am thinking - I hope not ALONE!!!). The CM comes back and says someone will be out shortly - they were on break. 3 CMs came out and the lines started rolling along (Why did they send 3 CMs on break at the same time?) Anyway, we were assigned room 1143 which was a courtyard view room. I felt very silly about being disappointed in the room location earlier because it really was a very short walk to the Food Court/Main Bldg. Everything is really compact - it just looks farther away on the map.
The room was BREATHTAKING!!!!
We have stayed at CBR and Riverside when it was Dixie Landings and the room just blew the others away! (Note: no refrigerator in room but I didn't need or request one). There is a built-in night light on the hair dryer. It is an amber color and stays on all the time so no need to pack a night light. We scheduled a wake up call and went to bed. Tomorrow is DD's 13th Birthday and we are celebrating at the Magic Kingdom!
