The "Better Late Than Never" Report -- 9/27-10/1

[Anonomom]

Ok, doing my first-ever trip report because I realize there were a ton of little things that we did and saw on our trip last week that I'm already starting to forget. I figure getting it all down in writing would be a good idea.

As my title mentions, we were at WDW from Sunday, September 27th through Thursday, October 1. Our cast of characters:

Me, 34, pooh-sized, compulsive researcher and planner.
DH, 33, calm, easygoing, not much for plans.
M, 3.5, adventurous little girl obsessed with princesses.
DW, 7 months, DW is for her nickname, "Death With." Happiest baby in the world, but with a penchant for throwing herself headfirst off beds and down stairs.

Our plan as of the day we left:

Sunday: Fly from NC, arrive at Coronado Springs Resort around 1 pm, head to MK, dinner at Diamond Horseshoe.

Monday: Epcot. Lunch at Akershus.

Tuesday: Animal Kingdom in the morning, MNSSHP at night.

Wednesday: Free day, 1900 Park Fare dinner.

Thursday: Check out, Chef Mickey for late breakfast, fly home.

First installment: Sunday, the day I thought we'd made a HUGE mistake.

 

[Anonomom]

Ok, first up, Sunday.

We had a 9:10 am flight from North Carolina. In a self-defensive maneuver, we chose not to tell M about the trip. Instead, we woke her up around 7 am, hurried her into her clothes and got her in the car, telling her only that we were going on an adventure.

The flight out was uneventful, and the ME are was easy to find once we landed at MCO. At first, I thought we'd end up waiting forever for ME, because it looked like there were thousands of people there, but to my surprise, we didn't wait at all! We were herded towards the lines, where they scanned our outstretched vouchers and waved us into the Animal Kingdom Lodge/Coronado Springs Resort line. We got on the bus 5 minutes later -- sadly, just a plain yellow Mears bus. It was around this point that M finally twigged that, hey, there seemed to be a lot of photos of Mickey around. Maybe we were going to Disney?

I was thoroughly impressed by the speed of ME. Our flight landed at 10:55 am, and we were at the resort before noon. Sadly, we wasted the next hour waiting in various lines at CSR -- first for online checkin, then for bell services, then for the luggage services who were actually willing to help with the bags we wanted to check because our room wasn't ready, then for the bus. It's unfortunate that our longest wait for a bus (25 minutes) all trip was that first one.

By the time the bus arrived, we were all sweaty and cranky, and it had started to rain. But we had an ADR at MK that night, so we figured we might as well head there.

Luckily, it wasn't raining when we got to MK. We entered the park and immediately decided to try for some food. We got hot dogs at Casey's and let M watch cartoon in the backroom while DW caught a little snooze.

After lunch, we headed towards Fantasyland, and got on the teacups with a barely-10-minute wait. Next, we headed to the fairytale garden to try to make the 2:30(ish, I can't remember the exact time) showing of Storytime with Belle. We got seats front and center about 30 minutes before showtime, and all seemed well. The music started, Belle's helpers rolled the trunk onstage, and then the heavens opened up. Show cancelled, and we all got soaked. Rats.

The silver lining here is that everybody scurried for cover, so once the rain stopped, we were able to get in line at Ariel's Grotto and see M's idol with a five-minute wait. Ariel was sweet and cute, cuddling M and the "guppy."

Next up was the carousel for DW's first carousel ride. By this time, it was swelteringly hot outside, but we were at least starting to dry off. We decided to try to make the next showing of Belle's Storytime. Again, headed to the theater 1/2 hour ahead of time and got great seats. The music started, the trunk came out, and it started to rain. Just a few drops, though, so here came Belle. She said hello, talked about how much she loves books, and then the heavens opened up. Belle scurried offstage, and second verse, same as the first. Soaked once again.

Took another ride on the carousel then meandered over to liberty square. We decided we had just enough time for the Hall of Presidents before our ADR. It was the first time I'd seen it, and I was impressed. Both DW and M thought it offered excellent napping opportunities.

And now the kids are awake, so part 2 of Sunday will have to wait...