The Holidays Are Over So Let's Get This Trip Report Rolling!

[mariezp]

Okay, so my plan has been to get my trip report started after the holidays and as soon as I get my Photopass pictures back. Well, the holidays have passed and the pictures should be back any day now so I think I am gonna get this report going! Here goes….

First off, I considered adding my trip report onto the bottom of my PTR but after the sudden and mysterious disappearance of Pikester's documentation of her entire trip I decided I would stick with the safest route and just start a new thread and add in the PTR link right here. So, for anyone who might be interested in my pre-trip preparations here's a link to my PTR:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2254103


Now on with the actual trip report.....

Day 1, December 2, 2009
As you can imagine the morning we were to leave for Florida I had trouble sleeping and was up bright and early. Guess what? Of all things, when I woke up it had snowed here in Texas! (Amy, I borrowed your snow photo!)

We managed to actually make it out of the house by the time we had planned which is great for us because we tend to be late everywhere we go. On the way to the airport we dropped the dog off at the kennel which is no easy task. As soon as she realizes where she is she is ready to bolt. Somehow we managed to get her through the door and get everyone back into the car. After a 45 minute drive we made it to the airport parking in just the amount of time I had allowed. We found it very convenient to use The Parking Spot at DFW to leave our car under the covered parking for 2 weeks. It is cheaper than airport parking and I had a 20% off coupon that ended up saving us $40 from their regular rate. They shuttle you right to the airport and pick you up when you return. Our driver promptly gathered our luggage and dropped us off at the American Airlines terminal. Traveling for 2 weeks we always have an abundance of carry on luggage as well as some we have to check in for storage so we hopped in line to make the appropriate arrangements. Baggage taken care of and boarding passes in hand we made our way through security which is always a rather comical experience for us…. not so much for all the people who are held up behind us. We are not seasoned travelers at all so it always seems to take us twice as long to pull all our goodies out into the bin and then gather everything back up. We made it through without setting off any alarms and were on our way to find our gate. After finding where we needed to go we grabbed a bite to eat from the food court and made a restroom pit stop. Perfect timing! By the time we finished up they were just starting to line up to board the plane. We were lucky enough to be on a flight with seating configurations of 2 seats on one side and 3 seats on the other. My daughter and I took 2 seats and the boy’s seats were right behind us.

I loved it because I did not have to sit next to anyone except my daughter.

Last year’s trip I ended up seated next to a sick, sniffling, wheezing woman. None of that this time! We received our pre-flight instructions to the rhythm of “The Night Before Christmas”. I put on my little nausea arm bands and settled in for our flight which for the most part was pretty uneventful. Well…. except there was that one loop…..

No, seriously, we really arrived safely at Orlando International Airport in sunny Florida just shortly after 4:30 pm. We were all thinking it was a very strange airport as we boarded the shuttle with the crazy flashing lights to be transported to who knows where. Somehow we managed to locate our luggage and find the Dollar rental kiosk all without anything unusual happening. After a couple of laps around the parking garage my husband finally found the exit and we were on our way. We plugged the address to the house into hubby’s new "evil i-phone", as my son has dubbed it, and set out to see if the new application would indeed take us to our destination. I also had written directions as a backup... just in case.
Soon after we set out my phone rang. It was Garden Grocers. My grocery delivery was scheduled to be dropped off between 7 -9 but I was his last delivery for the day so he wanted to see if he could deliver it early. I told him we were just leaving the airport so he said he would head towards the house and just wait for us. It took us almost exactly 30 minutes to get from the airport to the gate of Sunset Lakes just as the description on the website of the house stated. I called the driver and he said he would be there shortly. In the meantime we started unloading the car and made our way to the front door. Being the nutty bunch we are we imagined opening the door and hearing music similar to that heard on the movie “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” when they enter the honeymoon suite at the Bavarian Village. Dang if it wasn’t almost that great! The house was absolutely beautiful! My daughter was so excited she probably ran around for a full 15 minutes repeating how wonderful the place was.

We ever had our own little Tiki gods!

We finished dragging our luggage inside just as the groceries arrived. The driver lugged all the stuff into the kitchen. Then we went over the list to make sure everything I ordered was there, which it was. He was extremely nice so I gave him a good tip and sent him on his way. I was really nervous after having read some of the reviews for Garden Grocer lately but I gotta say I very impressed with the whole experience! As it worked out I loved the fact that they delivered my order early so we did not have to sit around wondering if they were going to show up. And look! My stuff even had these little custom labels on it.

I put the groceries away and did a little unpacking. By the time I finished my daughter had waited just about as long as she could. It was time to hit the pool, which by the way, was beautiful. It was the perfect temperature. Even better it was all private… no screaming or splashing kids other than our own. That was as far as we made it the rest of the evening.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm here, Marie! I'm here!!! Yay! I am so glad the TR has started! I got the email alert of your Pre-TR and saw that you had begun the TR, so I rushed right over! Can't wait to follow along with the adventures. Actually, I wish Bumbershoot would find your Pre-TR and this TR because I think she and her family are planning their first visit to WDW later this year. It would be good if she found this since you were another DLR veteran and first time WDW visitor!

That house looks great! And it was cheaper to stay there than it would have been to stay onsite at WDW, which is the crazy thing, because it looks like it would cost a pretty penny!

Also, it sounds like Garden Grocer is a much more finely tuned service than Vons, which always makes mistakes! It is interesting, though, that with GG, you can give them a tip. That is not the case with Vons - no tips accepted - and it was not the case when Albertsons was delivering. I assumed all groecry delivery services had the same 'no tip' policy! Guess not!!

Anyway, I am hunkered down for the long haul. You should post a link to this TR over in your old TR from DLR 2008, too! I think some of the DIS-ers on the DLR side who remember that epic TR would love to join in on this one!!

 

[mariezp]

Oh garsh! The pressure is on now to keep this report going since I have a reader! I should have known it might be you, Sherry. You have been such a faithful and loyal reader! I have been following along on your recent trip report too but I was waiting to respond when I had the time to sit down and add something thoughtful and not rushed. Expect to be hearing from me soon! Even though the holidays have passed these looneys around here seem to have nothing better to do than find ways to consume my time! Good grief! My DH's latest idea is for me to come up with some new and improved diet to help us lose some of the spare tire we haul around. I am supposed to be doing research while I am online. You would think by now he would know I have more important and pressing matters that need my attention! Anyway, I am glad you found me. Hopefully it will inspire me to get another installment on here ASAP! I may just take your advice and get a link added to my old DL report in the near future, after I have added more.

I do hope Bumbershoot decides to come visit! I will also love to here her take on what she thinks of the World after her trip. I know she loves DL as much as I do so it will be interesting to see how she thinks the 2 parks compare.

The house was great! I got very lucky by finding it because there are like a gazillion rental properties in the WDW area that I had to sift through. I don't think there would have been another that would have suited us any better. It will be one of the few things I will be wishing we could have when we take our next trip to DL. Unfortunately, I do not believe there are very many affordable rental houses in the DL area.

I am not sure if the grocery guy was supposed to take a tip but he did not resist. I have had the drivers in CA. refuse a tip but if you keep after them you can always wear them down too.

Hopefully, this here trip report will get to flowing a little faster now that I have all the photos uploaded. I loaded them all onto one site so I could get an archive cd but they did not provide links so I had to go back and reload them ALL to another site. We used 3 different cameras so I had to go through everything and melding them all together and putting it into chronological order because the cameras did not do it for me. Then I also spent several days at the Photopass site. I am not sure it was even worth it because we were moving so much we hardly ever stopped for photographs. I only had 27 original pictures. Trying to follow your example, Sherry, I managed to turn those into 181 photos using borders over and over again. Suffice to say that I am so glad the only other thing I have to do with photos is copy and paste a link!

 

[Sherry E]

Yes, woman, you have to keep this report going! And by all means post the link in your old DLR TR so those followers can join in over here!

Actually, I may have to bookmark this TR or save it in my Favorites or something because the threads on this WDW side of town seem to move at lightning speed - which is not quite as common over on the DLR side of town, although it seems things have been zipping along a bit more over there lately too! In any case, sometimes it is hard to find threads after a day passes, and the old relliable email alert is not always so reliable.

Anyway, I will try to rustle up Molly/Bumbershoot over in DLR-land and see if she can jump aboard here. They are taking a break from DLR to save for WDW. If I am not mistaken, I think her WDW trip will be later this year and not next year, so perhaps your experiences can help out another WDW first-timer.

I can't wait until you get to the part (maybe it will be at the end of the TR when you are done) where you elaborate on why you were missing DLR a little bit, or why some of the magic may have been missing a bit. You only vaguely alluded to that before. You are not the first person to have said that. I think Krissy Marissy recently made a WDW holiday trip and she said on the boards when she came back that she missed DLR and almost wished she had gone there. In fact, there is yet another thread over on the DL forum about DLR vs. WDW and that is always a fascinating topic because I like reading folks' comparisons when they are 'used to' one of the Resorts and then go to the other one. Most of the people who grew up with WDW are not jumping ship to the DLR camp, but some of the DLR people strongly prefer WDW and only view DLR as "filler" until the next WDW trip.

I have a friend who has not yet taken her little boy to any Disney park. I have a hunch they will end up in Florida before they go to DLR, even though my friend grew up with DLR. I keep telling her that she should start her son off at DLR because it is more manageable and will be a good test to see how her son handles long days in the parks. Also, there is no transportation needed at DLR to get from DTD to the parks to the hotels and from park to park, whereas WDW is a whole odyssey of travel between the different hotels and parks.

I am glad you have been following along on my TR for my little one-day trip on 12/19. I am pretty much done with it. And I posted PhotoPass photos from my October trip before that. Now I just have to get the CD with the PP pictures from the 19th and that will be it until the next DLR trip, whenever that is. It was such a struggle to get there this year at all, I HOPE 2010 is better.

Can't wait to see your PhotoPass pictures - good job at using the borders and things to stretch that number of pictures out. I don't know what the WDW borders look like, but I was kind of disappointed with the DLR borders this year. Nothing really exciting or new. However, you ever notice how some of the borders just fit perfectly with certain photos in shape and color and theme and others look very awkward and ill-fitting? That is why I tried almost every single border with every picture - to see which ones were really good and which ones were lackluster!

 

[DL55]

Enjoying this TR already! "except for that one loop" You are funny.
My DH and I grew up with DL. I still enjoy it but DH said he likes WDW better...more to do. I'll go where every he wants.

 

[mariezp]

Glad to see you have joined me DL55! Hopefully some of the other TKers will drop in too. Glad you liked my silly loopy humor! I guess in some ways there is a bit more to do at WDW, especially Epcot but there really are just about as many rides at DL and CA as there are in all four parks at WDW. Seems to me that there are quite a few more shows at WDW. It is hard not to enjoy both WDW and DL but as apparent from most of my report, our hearts belong to Disneyland. I honestly told my DH that I was going to try to keep and open mind and he said... "I'm NOT!" Goofy guy!

Okay, Sherry, keep up the prodding and I will get the next installment out! And after I get that done I promise I am heading to your report next stop! Then maybe I will eventually get a link on my old report. I thought I ought to have a little something to keep them interested before adding it. You are right. The WDW threads move like lightning! I guess there are just tons more people reading up about WDW than there are on the DL trip reports.
I am too scared that I will start being the target of flame throwers if I say anything against WDW. Let's just say that it was fun... once... but DL is much better suited for our family. Basically, too big, too much time spent in transit from point A to point B, etc..... I am sure by the time the report is over you will garner a few more reasons as well.
I hope your friend takes your advice, especially if her child is very young. It is a lot for the little fellows but even more work for the parent.
I hope we ALL find a way to get our fill of DL in 2010! It would be great if we happened to be there at the same time. I know after this year December is no longer a choice for us. I love the parks at that time of year but it is just too much to come home to. Most likely if we get to make it at all it will be in early November. We may still get lucky enough to see some of the park decked out for the holidays.
My Photopass pictures arrived but I gotta tell you I was not all that impressed. We did not really see many photographers but then again I always seemed to be rushing so much I may really have been passing them by left and right! At DL it is a lot easier cause I already know where to find most of them! I know I enjoyed seeing all your Photopass pics. It looks like they did a pretty good job.

 

[mariezp]

Okay, I have stalled a few days again so I guess we will start where we left off. I gotta warn you I am a camera fiend, not necessarily a good one but I do love taking pictures, so be warned there are going to be lots of photos! On with the report.....

Day 2, December 3, 2009
In my mind I imagined that we would be up and at em bright and early for our first day but it was just not meant to be. Perhaps it was the fact that we were not used to the time zone and waking up an hour earlier. Whatever the case it turned into a trend we kept throughout our entire trip. Seeing as how one of the guy’s favorite things to do is sleep in late I assumed they would enjoy it on their first day of vacation so I did not put much effort into hurrying us to the park. I enjoyed the peace and solitude of the house…. something seldom heard at home. Eventually everyone awoke from their slumber and we made our way to the park by about 11:30. Here’s the mandatory WDW sign photo.

Guess what we saw floating in the sky on the way in. The kids were not nearly amused as I was.

AAA parking pass in hand we found a parking place by following the blue line and made our way to catch the ferry across the lake. I had to explain to the family Walt’s vision of leaving the world behind and becoming immersed in Disneyworld. Interesting idea but I am not sure it made us feel all that magically transported.

If you will recall I did have tickets to see the Christmas parade taping this morning but as I imagined no one wanted to spend 4 hours watching parade entertainment when we could be checking out the park. We did notice quite the crowd when we entered the park but we easily made our way down Main Street so we could head towards Adventureland. As we passed the castle I heard singing but never did catch a glimpse of who was on stage. Oh well, I wasn’t all that impressed by what I heard anyway. As we got away from the castle we noticed that the park really wasn't all that crowded.... at least until later in the day.

We let my daughter choose our first stop. Her choice was the Tiki Room. Probably was not the best choice to start out with. She loved if but the rest of us came out shaking out heads. What had they done to the Tiki Room. Suffice to say we are Tiki Room purists. So unfortunately even though I had big plans to not make comparisons between the 2 parks at every ride and attraction there was just no way to avoid it on this one. Disneyland wins the Peterson’s Tiki Room Seal of Approval for having the proper original music, no large goddess lady sprouting up from the floor and not having an obnoxious bird. The outside area did have some pretty scenery that made some for some good photo opportunities.

Thankfully, with that out of the way, we continued moving along to something more appealing for the men folk. They chose Big Thunder Mountain. My daughter is a ride whimp so she and I passed on riding. We waited for them at the exit of the ride. I took the opportunity to take photos while DD kept herself entertained while lizard watching. They seemed to be all over the place.

I tried to catch a shot of the boys on the ride. Darn you gotta be fast! Managed to get DH in the shot but DS ended up hidden behind some girl.

When the guys finished their ride we decided that our next stop would be for lunch. Since we arrived late to the park we had already missed ADRs at LTT so we just opted to grab what we could find. DD and I went in one direction to grab chicken nuggets at the Golden Oak Outpost while the boys went to search for turkey legs. My son loves those things. While waiting in line we stuck up our first conversation with a man from Las Vegas who just happened to be a wedding photographer which is probably not a bad profession in the wedding capital of the United States. After a long wait we finally got some grub and made our way to nab a table as soon as someone else vacated. The guys met up with us shortly. No turkey legs though. The cart was out so they settled for corn dogs and corn ears. We had found a table in the very back of the seating area. It was fairly nice and quiet until people started feeding some of the birds. Normally I would not mind but the birds would dive right across your table and it got to where whoever was tossing the food did not take any particular note of where they were throwing the food. It did not make for a very pleasant dining experience. Sad thing is it was not just children. My DH was starting to look like he might say something untactful at any moment so we proceeded to promptly leave the area.

Next, we headed to our all time family favorite ride, Pirates. Gotta say it was short. I really missed riding through the bayou and especially missed not getting to eat at Blue Bayou. I thought WDW’s redhead looked prettier but no one else thought she looked any different. DH pointed out that their ride is missing the big treasure scene and the captain’s quarters. Guess they gave those up so Captain Jack could have his own big room.

Seeing how we have 2 different type of ride groups, the thrill seekers and the mild riders, we decided in order to make the most of our day we would split up and head our own ways. I knew that the Magic Carpets were scheduled to go down for refurbishment the next day and we were already in the area so the girls decided to make that their next ride. We struck up a second conversation to pass the time while we were in line, this time with a family from Wisconsin. After a fairly brief wait we boarded our carpet. We both thought this one was great. Loved the part where you had to dodge getting spit on by the camel. She was a girl camel too… see her eyelashes!

 

[mariezp]

Next we decided to take a tour of the Swiss Family treehouse. These treehouses are wonderful but man are all those stairs a lot of climbing! Oh well, another great place for pictures! No jaguar and they didn’t even let you bang on the pots and pans!

For our next ride, we headed to the Jungle Cruise but the line was about a 30 minute wait so we opted to grab fastpasses. We had some difficulty getting the machines to cooperate. We finally had to get a CM to assist us. FPs in hand we headed up the stairs and DD requested another ride on the Magic Carpets so that is what we did. From there we made our way over to watch the Country Bears. I have heard of lots of people really missing this one at DL but truthfully, I gotta say I did not think the show was all that great. Walt’s animatronics, as always, were fabulous but I just really could not get into the show. Our favorite part of the whole show was the guys mounted on the wall. Still getting used to this new camera plus I was trying to not use a flash so my photos here are rather lacking.

 

[mariezp]

Having done two new attractions that we had never done before, we decided now it was time to go for something a bit more familiar. We grabbed a couple ice creams and headed for a circle tour on the WDW Railroad. We ran across Tianna’s Showboat Jubilee along the way to the station.

I am still trying to figure out why WDW only has 3 stops when their park is so much bigger. At DL since there are 4 stations you can actually use the RR as a method to save yourself some walking. At WDW the stations are far enough apart that many times any station is still a good distance away from your destination thus not being especially helpful to the poor old tootsies. We enjoyed the ride so much, and the rest, that we decided to go around the park twice. BTW, where did the Grand Canyon go?

We disembarked again at the Frontierland station. Since our FPs were now good we decided to head over to take a Jungle Cruise. We had a female skipper for our first trip. She was actually very good but as is often the case the boat load of people were not very responsive. I can only imagine how exasperating it must be for those poor skippers to repeat their spiel day after day to a bunch of humorless people. My hat goes off to them. We did our part and laughed at her corny jokes and enjoyed our voyage through the wilds. It is very similar to DL’s ride. They do have an indoor temple area that DL does not but I do not believe it made their version any better.

Upon exiting back into Adventureland, DD requested a third ride on the carpets. Knowing it would be our last chance for the remainder of our trip we hopped in line for our final carpet ride.

Having spent the majority of our day full of so much adventure we decided it was time to check out another area of the park. Along our way we passed by the castle. I don’t know why but I always forget to get very many shots of the castle. This ended up being one of the few.

We ended up in Tomorrowland. We had never ridden the Transity Authority so we thought we should see what we thought. We both liked it and enjoyed the many views from our lofty perch.

DD wanted to go to Stitch’s Great Escape. I had read mixed reviews on this one so I held my breath and hoped that she would not get scared. She came out just fine. Me, on the other hand, came out with bruised shoulder bones! When the ride restraint came down over the top of me it really hurt. Thankfully, when I lifted my shoulders it raised back up but then it was very loose. Having never been in the theater before I spent my time worried as to whether or not I was going to come flying out of my seat because I was not in tightly. As it turned out there were no sudden movements, loops or any of the like so I made it out safely. Never did understand what the restraints were there for unless it was just to make you feel like you were really on a ship. DD liked the attraction okay. I found it to be something I could do without.

When we exited it was time to meet up with the guys and head home. I had forgotten my cell phone that morning so we had made arrangements earlier to meet them at the Market House on Main Street at 7:00. After making our way through the parade crowd we found out that there was no MH in WDW so we all had a brief moment of panic wondering how in the WDW we were going to find each other. As luck would have it they had gone into the bakery which was where I decided would be the most likely place to find coffee. My reasoning paid off and we ran into them almost immediately. As we made our way out of the park we realized that we really should plan better to avoid the rush out of the park in the evenings.

After a short 15 minute drive we made it back to the house. We ordered in pizza from Pizza Hut and watched tv while we ate. After that DD did a little swimming, we played a little ping pong and then put our weary bodies to bed.

 

[QueenDoOver]

Hi Marie! Enjoying your report immensly! My family tours that way too. Divide and conquer. Now my youngest is turning into a ride hound so that may be changing. Wondering if you might divulge how much you paid for the rental house. That is an option that we are considering for sure. We would also love the contact info, if you don't mind PM'ing it to me. Edited to add, never mind, I found the link in your PTR. Thanks! Great rate. Here it is again for anyone else looking: http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p219739#photos-bar
I loved seeing the bear country jamboree pics. I saw that show my first trip to DL with my Grandpa, so it always brings back those memories for me. It will be a must do for me when I go back.

Look forward to the next install.

Tracey

 

[mariezp]

Oh boy! You made it over, Tracey! Hopefully, I will have some more to add soon.
Nice to hear that I am not the only one with a family that "divides and conquers". (I like that!) We started out thinking we might try to stay together but it just doesn't work well for us. Having to sit around waiting on the other half of our bunch seems like a waste of time.... time that could be better spent doing something we like to do. Of course, we do try to slip in a few rides together that appeal to everyone but for the most part everyone as a whole is much happier branching off with one ride buddy than standing around looking at each other having conversations like...
"What do you want to do?"
"I don't know. What do you want to do."
"I know. Let's ride on xxxxxx."
"NO! I don't want to ride that!" etc......
After a few rounds of that I told DH I would keep DD happy and he could keep DS happy. Makes for a much happier everybody!
Of course, you are right, I don't expect my DD to never want to ride the BIG rides but in the meantime I am not inclined to make her go on anything she does not want to ride. DS was probably at least 12 before he really took an interest in the coasters. I won't mind if she never does cause I still don't like them all that much.

Glad you found the house info. It was perfect for us. Abby, the owner, was always prompt at responding to any questions I had. I have even already gotten back my security deposit! The only problem we had was with the internet connection when we got there. It turned out that the router had gone bad but the problem was resolved the day after we called.
The parks are a very easy 15 minute drive. There are all sorts of places to grab a bite to eat along the way. We had several nights of Taco Bell because it was cheap and right on the corner on the drive home. The gated community was very nice and so quiet! It seemed like we were the only ones around until just the last few days. We finally saw someone at the house next door. It was so nice to go out to the pool and not have a single soul around! We had so much space that we even ended up having 6 guests stay over one night. I won't go into much detail now. Gotta save it for the report! Anyway, the house was a good deal and so worth it. It was much less than staying onsite... and even less than our 2 week stay in a hotel when we go to DL. I can highly recommend it! Be sure to tell Abby I sent you! If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

I have a feeling if I had originally seen the Country Bears at DL I might have liked them even better. No doubt I would have if they were connected to memories of my grandpa! I hope you enjoy seeing them when you get to WDW.

 

[Sherry E]

Okay, well, I see we got one more from the 'other side' (Tracey)!! Eventually more will trickle over here.

I may have to keep my comments brief for now because I am having trouble with this page. Not sure why, as your photos are relatively small and should not make the page load so slowly. It is probably my stupid old computer. It is taking way too long to scroll up or down, and then when I finally get to where I want to stop on the page, it keeps on scrolling up or down and won't stop. Itis also taking a very long time for the words I am typing to appear. I want to see if if stops doing this later in the day.

So I may be skipping something at the moment that you posted, answered or asked or whatever. Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I am out here - even if my PC ismoving at a snail's page and the pages are uncontrollably scrolling!

The Magic Carpets look like a Dumbo type of ride, is that correct? See, I had read about them before but for some reason did not envision them as that type of ride, but I guess that makes sense. It would have been cool if they had been able to make it a dark ride in the Peter Pan type of 'flying' mode, but at least they have an Aladdin ride, unlike DLR.

I think it is hilarious - and scary - that you forgot your cell phone and scheduled to meet your DH and DS at the Market House - when there IS no Market House! I tried to envision that scenario and what I would have done in that situation. Lucky you all bumped into each other at the bakery. Otherwise, what would have been the next step in finding them? Just stand on Main Street until they eventually walked by? It wouldn't be so nerve-wracking if it were on territory you were familiar with because you know you would find each other eventually, but to have it happen in a new place is unsettling!!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh, I thought of a few more things I was going to comment on - the Country Bears, to start with. I forgot that you didn't become a real diehard DLR fan until more recent years, correct?

Well, here is the thing with the Bears. It is not that it is such a fantastic show in and of itself (especially in comparison to something really good like the Aladdin show in DCA), but for me and for many who grew up going to DLR, I guess the Bears represent nostalgia. It was one of those things that was just always there during my childhood (like the Tiki Room), and whatever group of adults I was with would always make a point of going in to see the CBJ. Good ol' Big Al - loved him! (And Thurl Ravenscroft, the late voice of Tony the Tiger for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes - "They'rrreee grrrreeeaaattt!" - also voiced many, many Animatronic characters in DLR and WDW - such as one of the animal heads on the wall in the CBJ. He was a member of the beautiful little church I went to all throughout my childhood, so we would always hear stories of Thurl's latest voice work for Disney, etc. So the CBJ reminds me of Thurl and his deep bass voice and extremely tall frame/stature!)

Also, another cool thing - and I don't know if they do this in WDW - was the ambient sound of a bear snoring as you walked through Bear Country in DL. That was one of those great Disney touches that they are so famous for (very similar to the 'bug sounds' coming from the foliage in A Bug's Land in DCA).

Today, it is not that I miss the CBJ show at DLR so much as I just liked knowing it was there. I liked the snoring bear sound. I liked knowing the Bears were there if we ever needed to go in and sit in a cool theatre on a hot day. Some things in DLR I don't pay attention to most of the time when I go, but I like knowing they are there. I hated riding the old Skyway buckets that dangled from a cable in the air, but they were part of the scenery and skyscape at DLR for so many years that I miss seeing them gliding across the sky. I also miss the People Mover and some other long-gone rides at DL for those same reasons. Not that I need to ride them or see them - just because they were part of the DL that I grew up with! I miss much of what used to be in the old DLH too, which was removed to make way for DTD. Even though I love DTD, I also liked the extra restaurants and shops that the DLH used to have. So it is all about nostalgia, think!

Next thing - you mentioned that you don't think you will be able to do a holiday trip to DLR in 2010 and that you will have to go in early November! Well, keep in mind that the "official" holiday season at DLR in 2009 began ONE FULL WEEK earlier than it had begun for the last few years. So instead of November 20, which would have been the date I expected it to begin, it started on November 13th!!! Not sure why?? Possibly because the holiday season is so popular now? In any case, if you time it right and DLR does an early holiday season start date again, you may be able to catch the first couple of days of it and make it onto It's a Small World Holiday - which was ever so slightly different in 2009 because the holiday additions had to accommodate the new Disney character dolls in some cases. So it is not the exact same IASWH that you saw in 2008. Otherwise, if you leave DLR before the holiday officially begins, you will still see the decorations slowly going up.

 

[DL55]

Loved your pictures! The tree house and CBJ especially. Brought back old memories. Got admit I like PoC better at DL with the bajou. I still have not eaten at the Blue Bajou.
Trying to meet at a place that doesn't exist is scary yet funny at the same time.

 

[Pikester]

Hey Marie! I finally found the time to sit back and read your trip report. I've never been to DL so there is nothing for me to compare WDW with. Not sure if that makes it better or anything though.

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[Canyon girl]

Hey, Marie! Finally found you. I was keeping an eye on your PTR but was busy this last week and missed your link. Great to see the photos! Funny thing is that we saw the blimp, too! I'm glad the house worked well for you. Believe it or not, Gardengrocer actually has a place on the payment screen for you to put tip in advance for those that are just having it dropped off. That kind of surprised me, even though, I had read about it on a thread before ordering. I know you aren't to 12/4, yet, but wasn't that a chilly rain? I stood in the CP line in the rain for about 40 minutes while DH and the kids went to the American Adventure. I do have a wonderful new golf umbrella now, though! Can't wait to hear/read/see (whatever) more!

PS - You SKIPPED the Jonas Brothers! I think you just used the guys getting up late as an excuse!

 

[mariezp]

Sherry, I hope your computer decides to "buck up"! There's still lots more trip report to come and we can't have you missing it! Anyhow, hope it loads better next time.
Actually, I live with a temperamental computer myself. My DS loves to rub it in because he has a mega computer and mine just barely plods along. Sometimes I don't think my computer is solely responsible for the problems. Our DSL connection seems to have issues of it's own on a regular basis. It's just always something. I try to just think of it as a challenge!
Yep, you are right. The magic carpets were just about like Dumbo but with different theming. I think they have the right idea by having 2 similar rides. With the popularity of Dumbo it seems like it certainly would help give riders who like that type of ride a second option which in turn should help reduce the build up of Dumbo's line. Sounds good in theory but I don't know if it really works that way. Dumbo's line was still long at WDW. I think your idea of the flying carpet would have been a good one. We need to get this girl a job with the Imagineers!
I absolutely understand the appeal of the Country Bears. If I had been raised on them no doubt I would have loved getting to see them again. And, I must add that if they were at DL now I would still go to see them once a trip. They would probably grow on me. Some attractions are just like that. However, for this trip they just did not especially knock my socks off since I do not have a nostalgic connection. Good to see once though so I now know what the show was actually like. Oh, and we did like the baby bear. Sorry, Sherry, I don't remember if there was a bear snoring.
Oh boy! I did not know that they started the holiday season this year at DL a whole week earlier. I like it!!! That would work out great so we can push our trip back from the holidays. A couple of days to catch SW holiday, HM holiday and Santa and we would be good!

Yeah, Yeah! Yeah! You guys can laugh at my stupidity all you want. I am too... now! At the time I was like "Oh dear, now what do I do?" Thankfully it worked out but let this be a lesson to anyone reading out there.... When you visit a new park always make sure your meeting place really exists..... ahead of time!!!!! I have no idea what we would have done if we hadn't run into each other. I am sure we would have ended up with an angry and frantic husband and a panicked me and 2 kids thinking "Boy, is my mother stupid! We are never going to get out of here!"

DL55, I am glad you liked some of my pictures. The treehouse is a wonderful place to waste a lot of time taking pictures. I agree. POTC at DL is better. WDW's version didn't smell quite musty enough! You need to get to Blue Bayou. It is our family's favorite at DL. Sometimes the reviews can be hit or miss but we have always been lucky and had wonderful food. I think the atmosphere is a major part of what makes it such a good choice at least once per trip.

Pikester, glad you found me! I am following along with you too now that they have recovered your report. Man! Was that close!
I can NOT honestly say there is any advantage at having been to both parks. I guess I now have the ability to compare both parks but I probably would have been just fine not having that knowledge. I can now say that we have been to both parks but I probably would have been fine with one. If you have a big desire to see both that is fine but if you are perfectly happy with a park you already love that is just fine too. Gotta say we all came home saying "Boy is it good to be home!" Not a single "I miss WDW." Not to say that it was all bad. We just missed what would have been our time at DL. Would I go back to WDW? Maybe.... but not anytime soon. There have been maybe a few "I miss Disneyland." I imagine I will be hearing that a lot until we get to make our next return trip.

Welcome, Canyon girl! so happy you dropped by! So how was your trip? Is there a trip report out there that I need to go find?
The house was one of the highlights of our trip. It was so close to the parks and the kids loved all the sapce, the pool and the ping pong table. It is gonna make our hotel room next year seem pretty shabby. Oh well, I think we will adjust fine.
Did you use Gardengrocer? They did a fantastic job for us. I was so relieved because they had gotten some negative reviews recently. Maybe I used them just as they decided to improve their service. Whatever the case I was pleased with their service.
12/4 is coming up and YES! It was a cold, yucky day! We got our new umbrellas that day. Did you enjoy the CP? Couldn't have been much fun standing in line in the freezing rain. We went the next night. It was cold but I don't think it was as cold as 12/4. Steven Curtis Chapman was good, wasn't he? You could tell he was really enjoying himself and the story he was presenting.
I never even found out who was at the castle performing until we got home. It would have made a lot of difference in me trying to get to the park if I had known there was someone I wanted to see. If it was the Jonas brothers I wouldn't have known them from anyone else anyway!



Ya'll stay tuned! I am working on 12/4. It's kinda short thanks to the stupid weather so it should be coming along pretty soon.

 

[mariezp]

Day 3, December 4, 2009

Not exactly sure what I did but when I woke up this morning my back was hurting. I have a bad back anyway so I am not sure just how much all the walking contributed but we had places to go, parks to see. Thank heavens for muscle relaxers and Tylenol. Not sure what time we left the house but it was fairly early since this was supposed to be our one Animal Kingdom day. Since the park closed fairly early I wanted to make sure we covered everything in one day. I knew DD was going to love the park but imagined the rest of the crew would think it boring and not want to go back.
As we left the house there was a light sprinkle of rain. We arrived shortly at the park and proceeded to follow the “Grrrrrrrrrrrrrreen line” to the AAA parking. Obviously, we are easily amused. We got such a kick out of hearing all the accents of foreign workers. The word stayed with us all through the day and when we saw anything green one of us would repeat it just like he had.
As we made our way into the park it began raining more. Rather than just stand around we made a quick dash to watch Festival of the Lion King to get in out of the rain and with hopes that the rain would let up while we were inside. Apparently, we were not the only ones thinking this way. It was a packed house. We enjoyed a dry place and even thought the show was pretty good. We were cool. We were in the Lion Section. No warthogs here!

When it was over we were herded out the door to find that the rain had picked up. Of course, we came unprepared so we stopped at the first cart we found to purchase some rain gear. As it turns out our day was pretty well shot but I guess our lot in life was to be in the park to view human behavior. We spent probably 30 minutes in line trying to buy ponchos. While we were standing among a crowd there I guess we saw a little bit of everything imaginable.
Some people can turn mean..... One lady got so mad she asked for her credit card back in the middle of the transaction.
Some feel they should be more privileged than others..... One lady actually cut into the front of the line and said “We have got to get something to cover up the children!” Duh, lady???? I suppose she did not see any of the rest of us standing in line… with children.
And some of us just try to make the best of it..... Thankfully, we were standing next to a lady who thought it was just as absurd as we did so we spent the remainder of our time in line trying to decide how it is that some people think they are better than others.
I gotta say that Disney was at least partially at fault for the disaster that was playing out in front of us. The people running the cart barely understood or spoke English. They could barely count money. And, they barely knew how to run the register. I cannot imagine that any of those qualifications helps to make running the cart very efficient. I can only imagine the amount of money that was probably lost giving back incorrect change…. or overcharged giving back incorrect change. Anyway, eventually we finally got our 3 ponchos and 2 umbrellas.

At this point DD was cold and wet and miserable. Her new pants were too long and dragging the ground and she had on sandals. All she wanted to do was go home. Sadly, the rest of us pretty much agreed with her.
It was just about lunch time. I had a reservation for the Rainforest café for the evening and I really hated missing the chance to go so we thought we would see if we could get in for lunch instead.

No problem. They were not crowded at all so we were seated right away.

I had the Pecan Crusted Mahi-Mahi and Coconut Shrimp. It was wonderful! Everyone else enjoyed theirs too. And of course, we couldn't have a meal here without ordering a Sparkling Volcano! I only wished I would have had more room in my tummy to put it. I am so glad we stopped in. It ending up being the best meal of our whole trip. When we came out the rain was still pouring. No use staying so we headed back to the house.

So that pretty much sums up our day at Animal Kingdom. 1 attraction, lots of rain, standing in line to buy rain gear and a yummy meal. Not exactly the day I had in mind. I guess it was just our day to contribute solely to Disney profits. Our half day excursion cost a full day Disney ticket, $35 for ponchos and umbrellas and $110 for lunch. (Silly me! I even forgot my $10 RFC coupon and my $25 gift certificate.)

We made our way home and it rained ALL DAY. It was a disappointing day as far as parks go but, thankfully, we had a beautiful house to hang out at and just have a relaxing sort of afternoon. We played ping pong, monopoly, worked a jigsaw puzzle and found other ways to amuse ourselves. Ordered in Pizza Hut and called it a day.

 

[Canyon girl]

Welcome, Canyon girl! so happy you dropped by! So how was your trip? Is there a trip report out there that I need to go find?
The house was one of the highlights of our trip. It was so close to the parks and the kids loved all the sapce, the pool and the ping pong table. It is gonna make our hotel room next year seem pretty shabby. Oh well, I think we will adjust fine.
Did you use Gardengrocer? They did a fantastic job for us. I was so relieved because they had gotten some negative reviews recently. Maybe I used them just as they decided to improve their service. Whatever the case I was pleased with their service.
12/4 is coming up and YES! It was a cold, yucky day! We got our new umbrellas that day. Did you enjoy the CP? Couldn't have been much fun standing in line in the freezing rain. We went the next night. It was cold but I don't think it was as cold as 12/4. Steven Curtis Chapman was good, wasn't he? You could tell he was really enjoying himself and the story he was presenting.
I never even found out who was at the castle performing until we got home. It would have made a lot of difference in me trying to get to the park if I had known there was someone I wanted to see. If it was the Jonas brothers I wouldn't have known them from anyone else anyway!



Ya'll stay tuned! I am working on 12/4. It's kinda short thanks to the stupid weather so it should be coming along pretty soon.

No TR. I posted some pictures and a quick synopsis on the CR thread, but I am not a great writer or storyteller. We did have Gardengrocer. My one complaint is that the bread was not a long enough date and had obviously been kept warm. BTW, your back problems was probably rheumatism. I know you are from TX, but FL humidity seems to be a little different. We spent the entire 12/4 at Epcot. Having lived in FL, I was prepared for the rain and had brought rain jackets for everyone. I had gotten the rain jackets from Disneystoreoutlet.com in late 2008 for dirt cheap. They have now made it through a rainy Feb. 2009 trip to DLR and a rainy Dec. 2009 trip to WDW. The only reason that I stood so long in line for CP was that the first 200 or so would be seated under the roof, so we had dry seats for the program. I have always loved SCC! He is so incredibly talented and did not disappoint at CP, either! It was nice to see him perform after what has happened to him and his family. He is truly an inspiration!


ETA - If you want to see my pictures from the CR, check out the bottom of this page... http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2140296&page=182. I have moved my reading of the CR thread to the reading of the BC/YC thread. We got an awesome BB for YC for next year, 11 night smack dab between Jersey week and Thanksgiving!

 

[bumbershoot]

Joining in! Sherry does a really good job of talking up your report.