The Great Graduate Getaway of '08 - 3 "adults" & 1 big kid in one room!

[Mickeefan]

I'm think I'm ready to start my trip report. I've got my pictures uploaded to Photobucket. I've already typed out a trip report in MS Word, so I can just cut and paste. And, I've got the itinerary in front of me. So, let's get started with a little background.

In mid-January, after returning from a trip myself, I began discussing another trip in late May with a friend and her 2 sons. One of her sons was graduating from high school and she was receiving her degree also (after 33 years!). So, the cast was set. Would you like to meet them?

The cast includes myself, Julie, a 44-year-old kid who loves Disney and all the attention to detail! Here's a picture of me:

The rest of the cast is Nancy, who will celebrate her 4?th birthday while on this trip, and her 2 sons, M, 18, and B, 10. Here's a picture of them:

M is in the blue shirt and he just graduated from high school. B is in the white shirt and he'll be in 5th grade next year. Nancy is in the pink, of course! They've all been to Disney multiple times and are just as nuts about it as I am, so we got along well.

Now that we have the cast, let's talk about accomodations. When we first started talking about this trip, we booked a room at Buena Vista Suites and we were going to drive. All that changed! We contacted Dreams Unlimited and were able to get a room at Pop. At this point, we were still going to drive. We also booked rooms for one night on the way down and one night on the way home.

On April 29th, I was playing around on the internet with airfare and found 4 seats on Northwest for $189 round trip per person. We contacted DU first and were able to add 2 more nights onto our reservation and we booked the flights. So, our trip was to be May 25-June 2, 2008. Eight glorious nights at Disney World's Pop Century with 3 adults and 1 big kid in the room.

I had signed us up for a fridge swap and we were able to keep the fridge an extra night, too. We (Nancy and I) went to the store and got cereal, pop tarts, snacks, breakfast bars and peanut butter and jelly to ship down ahead of our arrival. This worked great. More about that later.

Now, all we had to do was wait for May 25th to arrive. Nancy had 2 graduations, some open houses, some Special Olympic events, some dance things and also had to pack herself and B. She figured M was old enough to pack himself!

Up next, the day finally arrives and we're off!

 

[Mickeefan]

Before I get to the actual day of departure, I thought I'd go over our "alleged" itinerary. Our itinerary went through many changes and even some changes "on the fly" while at Disney World. We were not on the dining plan, but I have an AP and I also have the DDE card, so we were able to save 20% on all our table service meals and anything we bought at Pop.

Here's a rough itinerary. The trip was from May 25-June 2, 2008.

Day 1 - Arrive and check in head to Magic Kingdom
late lunch at Crystal Palace
Day 2 - Memorial Day - Blizzard Beach
late lunch at Beaches & Cream
Day 3 - Epcot
dinner at LeCellier (M's graduation dinner request)
Day 4 - Disney's Hollywood Studios
lunch at 50's PrimeTime Cafe
Day 5 - Lazy morning, laundry, Epcot
dinner at Trail's End and back to Epcot
Day 6 - Animal Kingdom
breakfast at Tusker House
dinner at Boma
Day 7 - Off site day - rental car - outlet mall
dinner at Pepper Market
Day 8 - Downtown Disney
lunch at McDonald's (for B, mostly), Magic Kingdom
Day 9 - Check out and head back to Disney's Hollywood Studios

Now that that's out of the way, let's get this party started!

 

[Mickeefan]

Okay. I've got all the pictures in Photobucket and I'm ready to start the "meat" of the trip report.

Here goes: Day one

Sunday, May 25, Leave Indianapolis (Indianapolis 500 race day)

I had set my alarm for 5:00 am and when it rang, I jumped out of bed, because I was going to Disney World! My Mom and Dad picked me up right on time and we were off to pick up Nancy, M & B. We were on the way to the airport by 6:35 am. I was a little apprehensive that we’d hit traffic on 465 because of people trying to get to Speedway, but it was smooth sailing all the way there. We checked our luggage and headed to the food court to get McDonald’s. When we were finished, we all headed out through security. Nancy and B were chosen to go through the air-blowing machine, I got through quickly and Mark didn’t take the laptop out of the bag and it took him longer to get cleared. Our gate was just through security, so we didn’t have to walk far. We got settled in and M and I walked down to Starbuck’s for coffee. We knew it would be the last good coffee we'd have for a week. Nancy and I had iced white mochas and M had an iced chai. M plugged in his laptop to charge the battery for a little while and soon enough, it was time to board the plane. We did not get 4 seats together, so M sat with B and Nancy and I sat together.

It seemed like a very quick flight. We headed into the terminal and down to the Magical Express desk and found our first “wait” of the trip. The line was kind of long, but it moved quickly with probably 10 cast members working. We got onto our bus and left the airport almost immediately.

We arrived at Pop Century

and walked into the lobby to find no line at check in! We were assigned to room 3207, 50’s pool view, Tramp building. Good location and the room was ready! The box we had shipped had arrived, so I carried it over to M for him to carry to the room. On the way out we picked up the fridge from luggage services and they allowed us to use a cart. We went to the room, dropped our carry-ons, unpacked the box, plugged in the fridge and headed down to the food court to buy our refillable mugs. We were able to get my DDE discount on the mugs and 4 mugs cost us $42.57 (about $10.50 each). We got our beverages of choice and headed out to the bus stop. We were on the way to the Magic Kingdom by about noon!

We were inside the Magic Kingdom by about 12:30.

Our Crystal Palace ADR was for 2pm. We wandered through some shops on Main Street, had a couple pictures taken in front of the castle and made our way to Crystal Palace about 1:30.

They were able to take us a little early, and we were seated in about 10 minutes. We saw Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. Our lunch, after discount and tip, was $91.81. After lunch, we went back outside to see the Dreams Come True parade. We walked to Tomorrowland and did Monsters, Inc., TTA, we got a fastpass for Space Mountain and M and B rode the Indy Speedway. We walked to Toontown and we all rode Goofy’s Barnstormer. We hopped on the train and rode all the way around to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. After this, we went to Pecos Bill’s to get drinks. At this point, B was getting tired, so he and I rode the bus back to Pop. I unpacked while B watched the Disney channel. I had brought along Christmas lights for the window and some graduation signs for the door.

We had also brought a shower curtain and a tension rod to hang by the vanity to provide some private area for dressing. So, I put that up. Nancy and M stayed for part of Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom. B was asleep when they came home and we all were asleep by 1am, I think.

Up next, Day two at Blizzard Beach!

 

[Mickeefan]

Day two

May 26, Memorial Day, Blizzard Beach Water Park

Nancy and I were up by about 6:45am. Got our suits on and then woke the boys. Blizzard Beach opened at 9am and we wanted to be there just after 9. Had some breakfast in the room and headed out to the bus stop, stopping in the food court for refills.

We got into the park and rented a locker ($12) for our stuff. We found a chair, in the shade, and M made his way up to Summit Plummet. He went down 2 times. We all walked up and came down on Teamboat Springs. B loved it. It’s a family raft ride that holds 2-4 people. We walked around and tried different slides, then rode the ski gondolas up to the top and came down Teamboat Springs again. We all changed clothes and left about 2:30.
We caught a bus to Yacht & Beach Club (after a long wait) and found Beaches & Cream. They said the wait was 45 minutes, but it was really only ½ hour. We had enough time to walk to the gift shop and back and our buzzer went off. We each ordered a sandwich and split some onion rings. Then, Nancy and I split a No Way Jose, while M had his own No Way Jose.

B got a Mickey Mouse sundae with his meal. Our meal was $43.91. Very good food, as always!

After our meal, we walked around to the Boardwalk. We wanted to see about renting a 4-seater Surrey bike. The bike rental was $22 for ½ hour. We all hopped on and took off around the Boardwalk. We went around 2x in ½ hour. The uphill area between the Dolphin and the Boardwalk is ROUGH! We had a hard time pedaling up the hill, mostly because we were laughing, I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that we’re out of shape!

We caught the boat to DHS at the Boardwalk and took the bus back to Pop from there. We relaxed in the room for a while and at about 7pm, we decided to take the bus back to DHS (the closest park to Pop) and then take a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to see the animals on the savannah. We got out the savannah area about 7:30ish and we saw quite a few animals. We saw zebras, giraffes, Ankole cattle, vultures and some kind of white bird. We poked around in the gift shop for a bit and then took the bus to DHS and a bus back to Pop. We got some snacks ($9.96) and relaxed and were asleep by 11pm.

Up next . . . Epcot & LeCellier!

 

[Mickeefan]

Day three

May 27, Tuesday, Epcot

Up at 7am. We took the bus to Epcot and went straight to Soarin’. We rode Living with the Land and then left the Land pavilion. We walked over to The Living Seas and rode Nemo and saw Turtle Talk. Next, we rode Journey Into Imagination and played around in the after show area for a while. We wandered around looking at the topiaries and decided we wanted to see the Voices of Liberty, so we rode a boat over to Germany and walked to the American Adventure to listen to them. We got to talk to the singers after their show and even got some pictures taken.

Rode the boat back to the other side and walked to Innoventions to try the Visa Meet & Greet. The line was too long and we wanted to get back to Pop to relax for a while. So, we decided to do Spaceship Earth and head to the bus.

We got back to Pop and had some lunch in the food court. Our lunch was $32.77. We rested in the room for a while. M and I went to the arcade to play some games while Nancy and B rested. B and Nancy went swimming for about 45 minutes, while M and I watched. We all got ready to head back to Epcot and took the bus to DHS, so we could catch a boat to the “back door” of Epcot. We entered Epcot through the International Gateway and got our EMH wristbands and made our way to Le Cellier. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated and our waitress was GREAT. Our dinner was $144.31.

We added some money to the tip and spent some time talking to Jennifer, our server, about going back to college and working at Disney. After dinner, Nancy and Brent left through the International Gateway and took the boat back to DHS to catch a bus. We figured it was less walking than taking an Epcot bus. The boat driver, according to Nancy, thought they were silly for taking the boat and then the bus. Whatever!

Julie and M went to ride Soarin’, Test Track and Mission Space. We left the park at 11:50pm, caught the 2nd bus at our stop and were in bed by 12:30am.

Day four coming right up!

 

[Mickeefan]

Day four

May 28, Wednesday, Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Julie and Nancy got up at 7am. Nancy went down to get drinks and a room charge print-out from check-in. We wanted to pay cash for some of what we'd already charged to the room. I took a shower and got ready, then figured out our charge totals while M and B got dressed.

Off to DHS at about 8:45am. Nancy got a wheelchair for B. M went to get fastpasses for ToT while we waited for him at the end of Sunset Blvd. We found a photo pass guy and took several pictures.

Rode Great Movie Ride with Johnny! Then we went to find characters. Julie and M went to get fastpasses for Rock & Roller Coaster, but found Toy Story Midway Mania was open and decided to ride that, instead. We rode in the single rider line and had time to ride it again when we got off. We loved this ride and couldn't wait to get Nancy & B on it. My first score was only 32,???, by the end of the trip, I had ridden it 10 times and my score had improved to 145,000! M and I went to meet Nancy and B at 50’s Primetime Café for lunch. Our meal was $81.54.

After lunch, we went to find more characters. We saw Buzz & Woody at Al’s Toy Barn along with a green army man. We also saw Sully and Mike. We went to ride RNRC. B rode, but said he didn’t want to ride again. It was so hot. I wasn’t feeling too good, so we went to the commissary and had a snack and to cool off.

We wanted to ride TSMM again, so we took Nancy and B over there and got in the wheelchair line. We all loved it. Nancy took B back to Pop to rest for a bit and change clothes, leaving M and Julie to ride! We rode RNRC and ToT (2x with fastpasses). We rode the Great Movie Ride again with different CM’s (better) and met back up with Nancy and B. Nancy wanted to ride RNRC & ToT, so I waited outside with B. We went back to TSMM again after this and M and I ended up riding it a total of 6 times that day. Nancy took B and went back to Pop, since he was pretty tired. M and I decided we needed to play a trick on Nancy. We found a photo pass guy and had him take our picture. We posed as if we were a couple.

I was giggling, but I think the picture turned out okay. I told M we couldn’t tell her and he said he’d try not to. On the way out, we decided we’d try to get pictures at all 4 parks. We walked out to the bus and got back to Pop after midnight. Nancy was still awake when we got back, so we talked to her for a little while and finally were asleep by 2am.

 

[Mickeefan]

Day five

May 29, Thursday, Laundry & Epcot

Julie and Nancy got up at 7am to get some laundry done. We let the boys sleep until about 9am. We wanted to go to the World Showcase and have some lunch. Nancy and I did 3 loads of laundry total. The laundry room was HOT, so we sat by the pool with our drinks while we waited for the machines. Why is it laundry at Disney is so pleasant and laundry at home sucks?

We took a bus to DHS and then a boat to the International Gateway at Epcot and we walked into the World Showcase about 11am and wandered around to Japan. M wanted sushi, but they didn’t start serving until 11:30, so we headed to the American Adventure because B wanted a burger. B wanted a burger at every meal, I think! They weren’t serving either. We sat outside for a little while and then M and Julie went to Japan to get his sushi while Nancy went to get B’s burger. We said we’d meet up in Mexico and eat there in the cantina. M and I got to the cantina ahead of Nancy & B and found a table next to the water. After lunch we rode the Mexico and Norway boat rides. Nancy and I got margaritas and we took the boat across to France to get pastries for dessert. We saw Aurora in France and walked to Germany to see Snow White. We took the boat back across to ride Test Track again.

We went to Innoventions to do the Visa Meet & Greet.

We waited and were able to see Minnie and Goofy. We left Epcot and got on the monorail. We got off at the TTC and transferred to the resort monorail and rode to the Polynesian to look around. When we went to get back onto the monorail, I asked about the front car and we were able to ride around to the Contemporary in the front of the monorail, a first for M. We got off at the Contemporary and looked in their gift shops. Took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and caught a bus for Fort Wilderness for our dinner at Trail’s End. I'd never eaten or even been to Fort Wilderness. It was interesting to see the campgrounds. Our total was $80.36.

After dinner, we took a bus back to Epcot. M wanted to see Illuminations! Arrived at Epcot and found that there were EMH tonight! We jumped in line to get wristbands and we were off to see Illuminations while Nancy and B (who doesn't like fireworks) rode Test Track. M and I found pretty good spots to the left of the twin gift shops and stood on the wall/bench to watch. Met back up with Nancy and B near the Odyssey restaurant and went to ride Test Track again. Walked across the park and rode Soarin’ again. After Soarin’, Nancy and B left the park to return to Pop. Julie and M rode Soarin’ 2 more times. We really wanted to ride in the front row. So, the 2nnd time in line, we asked if we could wait for the front row! After Soarin’, we walked out and got in line to look at the Meet & Greet photos. We got our photo and rode Spaceship Earth again. M chose Japanese and then proceeded to narrate the whole ride, since we couldn’t understand it. We emailed our postcard home and then walked to the bus and back to Pop. B was asleep, but we talked to Nancy for a bit and then went to sleep about 2am.

Day six is next!

 

[tink1957]

Great report so far,

 

[Mickeefan]

Day six

May 30, Friday, Animal Kingdom

Up at 6:30 and out to bus stop by 7:40. We caught the bus to Animal Kingdom for a character breakfast at Tusker House.

We saw Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy and Mickey all in safari gear. Meal was good and was $84.59. Not sure I’d go again, though. M went to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest for later. Nancy went to get wheelchair for B and he and I waited for them both to return. We rode Kilimanjaro Safari and saw lots of animals. After the safari, we walked to Asia and ALL rode Expedition Everest with fastpasses. We decided to buy the picture, because it was good of all of us. Nancy and B went to Dinoland and M and I rode EE 2 more times. We got into the single rider line and the first time, M was in the middle of the train and I was in the front seat with the record holder. The ride we were on was 2,362 for him. He said he goes to the Animal Kingdom every day and rides Everest. The second time through the single rider line, M again got the middle of the train and I was sent to the 2nd row. As I walked past M, I told him I was in the 2nd row and asked if he wanted to switch. He jumped out of line and I jumped into his spot. We walked to meet Nancy and B so we could see the Nemo show. After the show, M and Julie rode Dinosaur and It’s Tough to Be a Bug while Nancy and B were getting pictures on the greeting trails.

We met back up and went to the Lion King show. After the show, we walked to the wheelchair seating across from the Flights of Wonder show and watched the parade. Nancy ran into someone she used to work with. After the parade, we saw the Flights of Wonder show and then we rode Kali River Rapids (a first for me). We weren’t totally soaked, but we left the park to go change before dinner at Boma. We changed clothes and headed to the bus to DHS to catch a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. Our dinner was very good. M enjoyed the soups and the salmon. Our dinner was $111.42. We took a bus to Downtown Disney after dinner and Nancy and B took a bus back to Pop. M and I went to Goofy’s Candy Company and got a rice crispy treat for Nancy and some dipped pretzels for me. We then wandered around DTD. We got onto a bus and were back at Pop by about midnight. We were asleep by 12:45am.

 

[Mickeefan]

Day seven

May 31, Saturday, Rental car & Outlet Mall

Julie and Nancy got up at 7:30am. While I got ready, Nancy ran down and did a load of laundry. We let the boys sleep late. Nancy and I took a bus to DHS and a boat to Dolphin to pick up rental car. Got car and returned to Pop, after first being in an unauthorized area off Backstage Lane! Got B and M up and headed out to the Outlet Mall by about 10:30am. First, we hit up the Starbuck’s for some much needed coffee. M, Nancy and I had white chocolate mochas. Yummy! The mall has been remodeled. We found the Character Warehouse and spent quite a bit of time there. I bought a photo album, a sweatshirt and a tee shirt. Nancy bought quite a bit of stuff. We had some lunch and wandered around the mall a little more. We were out until about 3:30 or so. We went back to Pop to rest for a while before meeting Nancy's brother and his wife for dinner at the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs. We drove the car to CS. It was a pretty good meal, but kind of expensive. Our meal was $79.90. Nancy chatted with her brother for a while. We then decided that we needed to return the car to the Dolphin and that we’d meet back up with them at Downtown Disney.

We returned the car to the Dolphin and just as we were walking toward the bus stop, a Downtown Disney bus pulled up. After meeting up, we (Julie, B & M) decided to head back to Pop, so M could get a hair wrap and B could get to bed. So, we walked back to the bus stop and waited for a Pop bus. M just made it to the hair wrap place before she closed. I think she liked him, because she didn’t charge him for the hair wrap (Disney Magic or flirting?). I took B to the room and M said he’d get refills for us when he was finished. I got B into the tub. When M got back, he said he’d take over the bath duty, but we sort of shared. M went to get ice, because B had fallen earlier and wanted to put some ice on his knees. I finished up the bath and M helped him get his pajamas on and get into bed. Nancy came home at about 12:30 and we talked for a little bit and were all asleep by 1am.

 

[Mickeefan]

Day eight

June 1, Sunday, Happy Birthday, Nancy!

Julie, Nancy and B got up at about 8 and went to the pool. M slept in a bit. We got ready in shifts, which worked great and gave B more time in the pool. We were ready to go and headed down to get refills and get on a bus to Downtown Disney. We walked through the Christmas shop, Mickey’s pantry

and World of Disney. I didn’t buy anything. Nancy told B that if he was good, we’d have McDonald’s for lunch. So, we ate at the world’s most expensive McDonald’s and the walked on through Pleasure Island and the Westside. We took the bus back to Pop and B fell asleep while on the bus. M carried him to the room, while Nancy got refills. As soon as M put him down on the bed, he said, “Go swimming?” Nancy came back and laid down with him and M laid on my bed. They all took naps. I went down to the food court to call about getting the fridge to the next person in the swap. She was as the Magic Kingdom and wasn’t sure when they were returning to Pop, so I said I’d call her again when we were ready to leave. Nancy called and said that B was asleep and I could come back. She decided to come down and we’d take a walk around Pop, since I’d never done that. We got refills and headed out through the 80’s buildings and around the back. We walked to the other side of the bridge and wondered about the Legendary Years at Pop Century. On the way back to the room, we got the charge print out. We figured out our remaining charges and gathered some money to pay on it. We were ready to go to the Magic Kingdom, but I called the fridge swap lady first and they were heading back to Pop, so we boxed up the fridge and signed the top with a sharpie. I'm in the same swap for a trip in September and it will be fun to see our names on the fridge when I open the box. Nancy and M carried it up to 3408 and left it outside their door.

We caught a bus to the Magic Kingdom about 5pm for Extra Magic Hours. Nancy got a wheelchair for B and we headed to Buzz Lightyear. After we rode it, we got fastpasses for Space Mountain and headed to Fantasyland. Nancy, B and M rode Snow White, M and B rode Dumbo. We all rode Peter Pan, the Carousel. did Mickey’s Philharmagic and Small World. We walked over to Toontown and rode Goofy’s Barnstormer. We were going to ride the train to Frontierland, but it wasn’t running during SpectroMagic, so we walked over. We decided to eat at Columbia Harbour House. After dinner, we got EMH wristbands outside Pinocchio’s.

We walked into Adventureland and I realized that it was almost 9pm (time for Wishes). We made a bathroom stop and M realized that he’d lost his phone. Come to find out, the CM at Goofy’s Barnstormer had asked them as they were exiting if they’d lost something, but M didn’t know at the time that it was his phone. M said he wanted to go back to Toontown and check about his phone (he was pretty sure that’s where it was). So, I went with him and we decided that they don’t keep stuff like that for long at the rides, instead, they send it up to Town Hall on Main Street, so we went there first. By this time, Wishes has started, so Main Street was full of people. As we came across the bridge from Adventureland onto Main Street, we saw Tinkerbell fly. Because all the people were standing still watching Wishes, we were able to get through and down to Town Hall fairly quickly. The phone had not been sent down there yet, so we headed back up Main Street and around (the long way) to Toontown. I stopped at the bathroom while M when up the exit lane to Goofy’s Barnstormer. When we found each other, he said that about a minute before he’d gotten there, they had sent the phone up to Town Hall! UGH! So, we headed back toward the hub where I told M that I'd go find Nancy and B who had been riding the Magic Carpets. B wanted to ride the Indy Speedway. M said he’d take him on the race cars and Nancy and I went to ride Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain. M and B met us as we were exiting Splash Mountain and B wanted to ride it, so while they rode, we just waited for them at the exit. After Splash, we all rode Space Mountain using our fast passes. After Space Mountain, B wanted to ride Small World again, so Nancy and B rode it again and M and I went to ride the Haunted Mansion. I pointed out a Hidden Mickey near the opera singer. As we were leaving the Haunted Mansion, we saw Nancy and B in front of us, but we were too tired to run up to them and they were on their way out of the park.

M and I walked over to ride Pirates and we stopped to get drinks. We walked onto Pirates and had a private boat. Mark opened up his Sprite bottle and cut his finger (poor baby). It actually was worse than I could see in the dark! On the way out of the park, we saw that the Jungle Cruise was open, so we walked onto that and rode it in the dark. On our way out of the park, we got a photo pass guy to take our picture in front of the castle. M was laughing this time.

We made our way out of the park and were on the bus back to Pop at about 1:30am. We were asleep by 2am.

Up next, the last day!

 

[Mickeefan]

Day nine

June 2, Monday, The last day

Disney’s Hollywood Studios had Extra Magic Hours this morning, but we decided that we didn’t want to try to make it, so my alarm went off at 6:45am and Nancy was already awake. I got up and showered. While everyone else was getting ready, I finished packing and took down Christmas lights from window. We were out of the room by 8:15 to check in for our flight and to the bus stop by 8:30. We arrived at DHS at 8:50 and were able to enter the park before the end of EMH. M and Julie went to get a wheelchair for B while he and Nancy went to get a new Guest Assistance Card (we’d lost it somehow between the MK and DHS). We rushed off to RNRC to ride because B wanted to ride it again! M got fast passes for ToT. We went and rode the Great Movie Ride again, so that Nancy could see the hieroglyphic hidden Mickey. The CM’s were okay this time, but not as good as Ingmar that we had on our 2nd ride.

We went back to TSMM and rode 2 more times before lunch. We decided to have Pizza Planet for lunch and after lunch I got a hair wrap while Nancy took a picture of the cow cart near Al's Toy Barn. We tried to go back and ride TSMM, but the CM wanted us to go through the stand-by line which was 120 minute wait, so we decided to try again later.

We rode RNRC again and ToT again (we requested the front row this time). After riding, we bought 2 frozen lemonades and went to ride the Backlot Tour. M and Nancy didn’t realize that they’d taken down the residential street on the tour, so they were a bit disappointed. After the Backlot tour, we made our way back to TSMM again. This time, we were directed through the fast pass lane. When we returned to the loading area, the CM told Nancy we could ride again because they didn’t have anyone waiting. She said to ask M and me. We said YES, of course! So, we rode again without getting off the ride. That last ride made 10 times total for M and me and 6 times for Nancy and B. Needless to say, that was our favorite ride and I can’t wait to get back in September and ride it again. I’ll be sure and report my scores to M, too.

We walked slowly out to the bus stop, only stopping to have a sad picture taken by the photo pass guy.

We caught the 2nd bus back to Pop and went to get the carry ons and something to eat. Our last food purchase was $13.87. We walked out to the ME bus stop and it was POURING rain and blowing sideways. The only rain of our whole trip was when we were heading home. We got onto a very uncrowded ME bus and did not stop at any other resorts. We were all very sad.

We got through security and out to our gate and found some seats. Got our seat assignments changed and M charged his laptop. We boarded the plane and M and I were in row 5, right behind first class, so we had extra leg room. Nancy and B were in row 8. We watched part of a movie, before the battery went dead. I tried to sleep, but couldn’t. M listened to his Ipod. B fell asleep just before we landed. The flight was a little bumpy, but not too bad. We got our luggage and were picked up outside the airport. We were home and in bed by about midnight. We really had a wonderful trip. We're still talking and laughing about it!

Thanks for reading.

 

[Mickeefan]

Great report so far,

Thanks for reading. This is my first attempt at a trip report.

 

[tink1957]

Thanks for the good report. Your phone story reminded me of our first trip when my DS lost his cell phone at the pool at CBR. He went to the gift shop & asked about it & was told that they didn't have it. We had ADRs for the Fantasmic Hollywood & Vine dinner package at MGM & were cutting it close to the time to be there but I told him we needed to make one more trip to the gift shop to check & the phone was there! We were right on time getting to MGM & my DD was lamenting about not getting to get fastpasses for TOT before we ate at H & V. We went through the security at the gate & my nephew & DS were stopped by one of the Dream Squad & given a magical FP to any ride of their choice. Of course they chose TOT & all rode it while I waited in line for our ADRs as I had no desire to go on TOT due to my fear of drops. So in this case, losing a cell phone made a magical memory.

By the way, do you have any tips for a high score at TSMM? We can't wait to go on it during our next trip.

 

[babytrees]

thanks for the great report...I enjoyed it immensely!!

 

[LeslieR]

Grrrrrrrrrrrreat trip report! It looks like you had a great time. When is the wedding? You make a really cute couple. (except you're old enough to be his mother!)

She's my sister, I can say stuff like that.