The Absolutely, Positively Best WDW trip ever!!

[Goobergal99]

Intro and Pre trip report

Let me start off by saying that I am an obsessive planner, slightly paranoid and in love with everything about WDW so this is going to be a very long report!!! So get yourself a cup of coffee, push your seat back and enjoy. It's time to see WDW through Gobbergal's eyes ​

Main Characters

Me: 23 y/old obsessive compulsive nut, obsessed DISER and WDW expert or so I thought anyway.... I spent 6 months planning this trip and I can honestly say it was the best ever, even better then the infamous lagoon view Poly trip of 1993! and that is saying an awful lot trust me

DH: 25 y/old laid back dad who also loves everything about Disney World since I took him on his first trip in 2000. His eyes lit up like a lil kids and they still do.... I love my disney guy he also loves everything pirates, haunted mansion, nightmare before christmas and does a great stitch and skippy impression He agrees that this was the best trip ever

DD: 7 y/old only child, lovable kid who loves Disney, she is an Ariel freak and this was her 3rd disney trip. She was the perfect age this time and really was a trooper, staying up all day and walking everywhere. She is a daddys girl to boot but she shares him with me none the less

Side Cast

DM: 52 y/old obesessed disney fan who frequently lurks the boards (come on and join already!!) this was her 15th trip to the world and she also said it was the best ever, even better then the aformentioned poly trip of 1993! Sensing a pattern here?? She was on her honeymoon and spent a couple more days there then us.

Paul: 59 y/old first timer, moms new husband, a lil background he is her third, she is twice widowed, my dad passed at 39 and her 2nd husband was 49 so she asked Paul repeaetdly if he was sure he wanted to get married to her at 59 In any case he is a really nice guy, a bit of a know it all, but heck so am I! so that's fine as long as he makes her happy. In any case, he loved Disney and so mom finally got her disney guy

Pre- Trip Tuesday September 26th 2006​

So..... In typical Collins's fashion nothing can ever go smoothly However, I will tell you all in advance that noone died while we were gone, there were no hurricanes and strangely enough it didn't rain once! All of these things have happened in the past which is why it was important to note. Oh so where was I???? As I said things never go as planned, rewind with me to two weeks prior, I caught a pretty bad sinus infection and just as I was getting better, Dh decided to steal it from me So he was coughing, had lots of mucus and was just whiny. I really had little sympathy (I know, what kind of nurse am I? ) but hey! remember he stole it from me. The only thing I was thinking was that he better hurry up and get over it so we could have a perfect trip ​

 

[Goobergal99]

In any case, I decided to let Dh sleep and take DD to school. So off we went, DD was so super excited that I knew it would be tough for her to get through another day of studying sight words but she was a trooper none the less and excitedly went off to class with a big smile on her face.

About two potholes and one south philly roll through a stop sign and I was at the laundromat to wash all of our clothes before the trip. It was pretty uneventful Oh, except for the crack head who tried to sell me a "hit" and the whacko who kept on hitting on me, geez too bad I am married, he would have been a real catch
Ironically enough, I live in the northeast which is a fairly good section of the city, but heck it's Philly! Haven't you guys heard our new motto?? "Welcome to Philadelphia! what size coffin do you need?" Anyways, in a lil over an hour I was finished and off to Tar-J (aka Target) for our last minute stuff.

As I was driving home, I started to dread what condition I would find DH in so imagine my suprise when I opened the door and found DH vacumming He told me that the bottle of benadryl he downed the night before really did the trick.
So everything was going as planned, I had a better DH with just a minor cough as proof he had been sick and we would be leaving for the world in less than 24 hours Oh BTW, I did wait until DH got into the shower to vacumm over his vaccuming (I know, I know, I am cruel but hey I said I was obsessive so Ha! don't judge me )​

By the time DH was finally dressed and ready to go (which was forever because he is worse then a woman ) it was time to go get DD. She was so excited when I picked her up that she jumped over a few kids to get to me, I apologized to their mothers who were staring at me with that look... some of you know that look, the one that says look at this young mother with this unruly child... but I wasn't upset because heck I was going to Disney and they weren't so HA! ​

Ok back to mature adult world..... So DD comes running to me and hands me her backpack which feels more like a freshman schoolbag I mean this is 1st grade ppl what could they possibly need to do in a week? In any case mommy had an evil plan and DD was in for a suprise ​

 

[Goobergal99]

So we get home and I bargain with my lil DD, because there is no way we are going to be stuck doing homework at Disney. So I offer her $20 more Disney dollars if she can finish her homework before it is time to go to DFIL's to print our boarding passes. She gleefully accepts and a couple hours, lots of whining and a frustrated mommy later DD is finished all 17 worksheets and has memorized her new set of sight words ​

So after pretending to not notice DH's disapproving look , I gave DD her dis money as promised and we were off to DFIL's . So I am thrilled everything is going great and then bam, I go to print the tickets and once again DH is on the "must check in at airport list" and I unable to print his boarding pass . Now I wouldn't have been all that upset about it but it was 6:00 the night before our 10:35 flight and they were already printing B boarding passes. So the OCD comes out in me and I start thinking worse case scenario, like what if they overbooked and he can't get on, or worse what if we are not able to sit together and the plane goes down and I am sitting with DD and bubba Anyways, after my minor meltdown, DH assured me that all would be well and we would get on the plane together. I acted like I believed him and then we headed home, after DFIL slipped us a $50 more disney money!!!​

We got home around 7:00 and ordered chinese, which DH drove over to pick up while I got DD bathed and in her jammies and me ready to watch the Gilmore Girls premeire DH was home by 7:40 and after eating DD was asleep by 8:05 and I was nice and comfy watching Lorelai break Luke's heart while DH surfed the net and as per usual occasionally rolling his eyes at the shows wordy dialogue. The funny thing is I know he is watching sometimes, because every once in awhile I catch him checking out a certain part of Lauren Graham's northern anatomy ​

In any case, after watching Jay Leno's monologue and tripple checking that everything was packed, we went to bed.... although I more or less laid there like the excited family in the commercial, too excited to sleep while DH snored away next to me . I finally drifted off sometime after 1am after double checking that both alarms were set and visions of Disney characters danced in my head ​

:

Coming up.... Part 2 "We finally get to the world with a dose of Animal Kingdom"

 

[Goobergal99]

Day 1 September 27th​

So I finally awake to the sound of the alarm loudly ringing at the early hour of 5:30 am. I jumped out of bed and into the shower and was totally ready by 6:00 at which time I woke DH up so he could take forever and a day to get ready. I then proceeded to tripple check that everything was in order once again. Everything looked good and so I decided to wake DD up. She shocked me when I told her to wake up it was time to go the mouse house and she through the covers over her head and asked for 5 more minutes. I mean what is wrong with this kid, I remember jumping out of bed at her age to go to Disney and here my own offspring would rather catch a few more Z's then get up. But I digress.... She did finally wake up just as DH was finishing up his shower (6:40, a new record! ) So DD got dressed and sat quietly on the couch watching cartoons and waiting for DH to finish getting beautified (yes he really is a straight man, just very particular) and I took the time to check everything once again .

By 7:15 we were all ready to hit the road. The plan was for us to drive around the corner to my grandpop and his gf's house and transfer our luggage to his car and he would carsit for us for the week (yes, I was more concerned about my new car being stolen then my neighbors knowing I was gone all week, I told you I was crazy ) So as we are driving up the street my compulsive self starts

"Hunny, did you remember your license?"
DH answers annoyed "yes"
"did you remember the cc's?, and money"
more annoyed "yes"
"did you remember Shan's disney money?"
EXPLICIT "we have to go back!"

So my OCD finally paid off and I silently gave myself credit for being crazy as I had saved the day..... or so I thought. So DH headed in to find the money and then returned a little later then expected and very upset. SO of course my stomach turns because I know that look. Luckily, the crisis was avoided when DH realized he had the money in his carryon all along and my craziness made him second guess himself So looks like after 10 years I am finally making him just as crazy as me.

We finally got to my Pop's a lil after 7:30 and loaded everything in his car and we were off to the airport. Now I must say that I have a new found respect for night shift because the traffic was horrible! We finally got to the airport at 8:30 and after some hugs and thank you's we headed to the check in counter. There the first of many good surprises awaited us, DH was given a B boarding pass just like me and DD

We went through security nice and quickly and then grabbed a quick breakfast. Our flight appeared to be packed with people, lots of kids in disney clothes which suprised me because I figured that most parents were good and didn't take their kiddles out of school like we did . But in any case, the plane was on time and we boarded with ease, we even had a row right on the wing. Which always makes me happy, because don't they say that is the safest place on the plane? Although I can't imagine that any place is ideal if something were to go wrong but let's think happy thoughts because we are after all going to Disney World.

So review with me, so far everything is going great, plane is on time, we have everything we need and we are all sitting together so DD and I don't have to die next to Bubba All is well.......

Coming up..... We finally get to the World and a few surprises!

 

[Goobergal99]

The plane ride was pretty uneventful, very little turbulence which always makes me happy and we were there in a jiffy. We landed at about 1:00 and then we were off to baggage claim. Oh yes, we did use ME, however I told you I was crazy and I needed to make sure my luggage got to the airport so I didn't put the yellow tags on this year, just as I hadn't put them on last year. However, this is one place that DH agrees with me on He can't relax until he is unpacked either so it worked out. We collected all of our luggage, yes it was all there and then we were off to the ME counter. We get off the elevator in front of the desk and there I see all the people in line

I started thinking my mom had lied when she said it was quiet in Disney because by the look of this line, it was packed! So I sent DH and DD off to sit and I waited in the line to check in. luckily it moved rather quickly and we literally walked right on our bus. The ride was nice and the driver was kind of entertaining as the video wasn't working but we were there in a flash anyway. The first stop was POFQ and then we were next. We hopped off the bus and DH tipped the driver for handling our bags and we walked toward the door to see DM waiting for us. The weather was nice, not to humid and POR was a beautful resort, the lobby was awesome. I was the only one in line to check in and I was quickly helped by Johnnie (he was not very friendly though, he needs more disney drugs to make him disney happy ) We were given a room in building 95 parterre place which just so happened to be the same bldg mom and Paul were in, we were just on the other side of the courtyard facing the walkway that lead to the quiet pool.

In any case, it was a nice quick walk across the bridge to the main building so we were happy with it (although we had hoped for AB, but heck I wasn't arguing and being so close to mom proved to be beneficial later) We were unpacked and ready to roll at 3:30 and so we met up with Paul and DM at their room and then we all headed to the bus stop to catch the AK bus. I was just soaking it all in, my family was together and we were in the world can it get ay better then this? well of course it can, they don't call it the most magical place on earth for nothing

Next: Yummy ribs, a face off with the Yeti and a prehistoric race against time......

 

[Goobergal99]

We walked into AK and waited in line to get our wristbands (as this was EMH night at AK) it was just a few minutes and we were off, but just then we realized something was horribly wrong with DD's pal mickey. He just kept on shaking but wouldn't say anything so we put him away and vowed to deal with him in the morning at MK.

We were all very hungry, as we hadn't eaten anything since the bagel at philly intl at 9:30 in the morning. So we headed to Flame Tree BBQ. This was our first time there but this was our 2nd trip fwith Free dining So we were well aware of the enormous ammount of food they give to us gluttonous vacationers (is that even a word??) Ahh.... who cares, anyway I ordered the ribs with corn and baked beans and DH had the smoked beef with the same sides and dd had the hotdog with apple sauce and mac and cheese, we had large drinks and 2 frozen lemonades and 1 chocolate cake for dessert. We were stuffed after all that food! Now it was time to burn it off... and what better way then to ride the Yeti

We headed over to EE and DD decided to sit it out, she sat with mom and Paul as they had already rode it earlier in the week. DH and I literally walked on and I was shocked at how uncrowded the park was... I loved looking at all the artifacts in line, but we were being pushed by un-disney like ppl who just wanted to ride In any case soon we were on and ready to go. It really was awesome, I don't want to spoil it for anyone but the Yeti is a sight to see and my DH was terrified, literally clutching my hand the whole time

I wanted to write some more but I am kind of at work and we are starting to get a lil busy with admissions so I needs to go, beings that I am the charge nurse tonight and don't have any patients of my own.... continue later

 

[MagicJunkie]

Hey, I still have half a pot of coffee, I just need more trip report.
Thanks for helping my day start out with a smile!

 

[pumba]

fantastic report so far.......thanks for taking the time to type it all out

 

[BeautyNBeast]

You sound like me. Everytime DH and I leave the house, I am like did I blow the candles out? Is the oven off? Dh gets a kick out of it. Cannot wait to read more

 

[Goobergal99]

You sound like me. Everytime DH and I leave the house, I am like did I blow the candles out? Is the oven off? Dh gets a kick out of it. Cannot wait to read more

Yep, I know I am totally insane and do the same things also, It's over the top but I can't help it I am a worrier! I really am trying though

 

[Goobergal99]

Ok so I am back for more fun and it's a slow night, I have one very heavily sedated patient post-op who we just extubated and he is doing very well. So I am just going to stay here in his room (I just love the in room computers with internet access ) and write some more in between charting and bedside care. Sound OK? well good because I am going to need the DIS tonight. Why you ask? well lets just say that I only had about four hours of sleep today and this is my 2nd twelve hour shift in a row after just coming back from our Disney bootcamp vacation Wednesday night!

Now I probably could have avoided scheduling myself this way, in fact I should have ensured that I had more recooperation time. However, this is no longer my full time job...... A few months ago I took a job working night shift in a crisis facility. It's relatively the same schedule, 3 12 hour shifts and 2 weekends in a sx week period. The only difference is that I have no patients to take care of and there is no dress code Of course this all sounds great, however the draw back is that the pay is substantially less So in order to maintain our standard of living, I stayed per-diem at my old job, as a staff nurse in CCU. I pick up two shifts a month and because the pay is higher at the per diem rate, it makes the difference and most importantly life is easier.....​

Ok so now that I have told you all about my work life, I should probably get back to the report you are all waiting to read Unfortunately, you are going to have to hang for a bit because I have some work related things to deal with but stay tuned for more Disney fun ​

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Great report so far! Glad to see another Gilmore fan!

 

[Goobergal99]

Great report so far! Glad to see another Gilmore fan!

Yep, I am addicted to the banter and thanks

 

[Goobergal99]

Ok so where was I.... Oh yes, so after our encouter with the fierce yeti, we met up with DM,DD and Paul who were waiting at the exit for us. DH wanted to go once more but DD convinced us to head over to Dinoland because she wanted to play in the boneyard, so off we all went. We took the shortcut past chester and hesters's dinorama and walked over to the boneyard. It actually worked our perfectly because DH doesn't care for Dinosaur that much and mom and I love it, Paul had never rode it so he was in for a surprise.

So we split up, DH stayed with DD in the boneyard and the three of us trekked over to Dinosaur. It was a literal walk on and I always love pointing out Mrs Huxtable as the Dr in the preshow

As we waitied to board our time travellers, I pointed out the chemical combination for ketchup, mustard and mayonaisse on the red, yellow and white pipes as loudly as I could. That's right folks, I wanted everyone to know how knowledgable I was, although I never would have noticed had it not been for the DIS

So we raced against time on Dinosaur, I love this ride soo much. I love bouncing all over the place and being scared by the dinosaurs. Mom and I were screaming the whole time and Paul just kind of sat their chilling. I guess after fighting in the trenches in Vietnam, Disney imaginerring is kind of tame

He said he really liked it though, it was just no big scare After riding, we met back up with DD and DH and discussed what the plan was next. DD really doesn't like bugs life because she gets creeped out, so she convinced DH to ride Kali River Rapids with her and once again Paul, Mom and Myself went off to see Bugs life. I always love this one, I even stayed sitting so that I could feel all the effects this time After Bugs life, we exited and I hummed along to Beauty and the Beees (I have the walt disney world sndtrk and this is one of the songs, for those of you who are out of touch )

DD and DH were waiting outside and boy were they soaked! At this point, we figured it was a good time to ride Killaminjaro Safari so we started walking over to Africa. I was amazed at how empty this part of the park was. I even got a picture of DD playing the African drums all by herself Well, our good luck ran out, seeing as the safari had closed at 6:30 and it was already a lil passed 7:00 at this point Oh well, we were cool with it, we have already done this one plenty of times and besides the animals are all sleeping.

So what to do next, that is the question Well lets recap we faced the Yeti, saved a dinosaur and learned to treat the bugs with respect. Not to mention DD and DH got soaked on the rapids and dug up some dinosaur bones.... Hmmm.... Well it is getting later and we are pretty tired and don't kill me but we kind of purposely do AK the 1st night to well...... get it over with

Now, I know what some of you are thinking but in all honestly, Disney can say whatever they want about it being "Natazu" but let's face it.... it's a zoo with some rides thrown in for effect. I mean don't get me wrong it's beautiful and certainly doesn't smell like a zoo (how do they do that anyway?? ) Dinosaur and the EE are awesome rides but..... we are not big animal ppl, we don't have any pets because quite honestly I don't want to clean up after them, nor worry about where they are going when I am trying to vacation. So please don't flame me and be kind

We saw Festial of the lion King last year and Pocohontas's forrest friends and even flights of wonder and guess what we were only marginally impressed. If we really wanted to go to the zoo, we have the best and first in the nation home in Philly so lets move on, shall we.

Ok then.... so now that we have done the things we really came to do (minus killamingaro) it was time to head back and explore out resort. So we headed toward the exit and took a picture in front of the tree of life before heading to the bus stop. One more thing I love about the moderates is that the stops are a lil closer then the value resorts. It is nice after walking all day and being exhausted So we all hopped on the first bus that came and we were off to POR in a flash.

After deboarding we split up with mom and Paul and headed into Riverside mill to buy our refillable mugs, fill up and grab a few snacks. Then it was back to our room so DD and DH could go down to Old mans Island and swim and I could settle in and watch the premiere of One Tree Hill .

The funny thing is, I was a swimmer for years. There is still a trophy from champs sitting on my bereau at home which proudly says "5th place overall for freestyle" I won it at CYO champs when I was about 11, not to mention tons of ribbons from winning heats and relays. I even coach DD's jr swim team at the Y. The thing is, I am just not much of a relaxation swimmer, it's all about competition for me so I sat this one out in favor of my teen soaps

I did walk around to take in the scenery a little though after the show, it is all so beautiful, I love how great a job Disney does of recreating the Southern charm of the mansions and bayou. It really is a beatiful resort and the landscaping was well deservent of the awards it has won. I waved to the captain on the DD riverboat and then farmiliarized myself with the resort before returning to find DD already showered and asleep (gotta love my DH, he is on it ) Finally DH and I settled down and cuddled up.... we were in Disney and everything was perfect. I called for a wake up at 7:30 and then we were off to sleep by 11:00. It was the perfect start to our prefect trip

Next up: The MK and our first doses of Disney Magic