Have you put your trip report in a word document, the kids just love reading our trip report in our disney book. They also LOVE planning the next trip. I am so glad to hear that Le Cellier is OK with kids, as this is on my next time list along with Kona and the famed tonga toast! Glad we still have another chapter to look forward to!
The "I've Waited My Whole Life" Christmas Suprise Trip Report-Final/Video Update 2/21
- Thread starter MomofCKJ
- Start date
Friday December 22--cue the depressing music
Yes we awoke by 7am and it was THE day. You know, the day you have to check out and go back to your real life. Say it isn't so, it can't be over?
We showered and got ready and gathered our things. I had packed the night before so it was just a matter of double triple checking we had everything and saying goodbye to our room.
The plan was to go check out, store the luggage and then go enjoy MK till after lunch. Sunray was not picking us up till 2pm so we had a decent amount of time to enjoy. How was everyone's mood? What do you think? How about a few photos of us leaving our room and going to check out?
Leave it to Grumpy to be the only human being excited to leave Disney World. Since we have been back and people ask him about the trip and what his favorite ride was he tells them, I kid you not, "The 747 Northbound to Boston". I want to wring his neck.
So we checked out, stored the bags and got in line for the MK bus. We arrived before the Opening show and got to see that again. Again I got goose bumps. It just gets me all emotional, doing the countdown, the characters, the music, seeing your kids look like this:
I took alot of pictures this day, remember I was trying to capture it all!
Today was a day to do some favorites over again. My memory is not the best on the order of events here but I will try! We walked down Main Street and I got what is my most favorite picture of the whole trip. I want to try and play around with it in my picture software, maybe make it black and white, but whatever way, I just love it.
We headed towards Liberty Square and had to wait for the rope to drop. Once in we visited the stockade for some typical tourist photo ops:
We were walking along and we came across a little merchandise cart. The girls wanted to pin trade so we stopped for them to do that. I will say I am so glad I got them pins and lanyards for this trip. I had no idea if they would get into it or not but they loved it and traded many many times throughout the week. I had gotton 11 pins from pincastle.com in a grab bag to start and they just used those. While there I did buy Belle a Lizzie McGuire Pin and I got a Lady and the Tramp one for Bashful. Those they wouldn't trade. I definately know that for Christmas they will be getting pins in the stocking this year.
So we are at this merchandise cart and Goofy has money burning a hole in his pocket. He wants something, anything. This cart being sort of near the Haunted Mansion was stocked with mostly weird and sometimes gross things. So what does he find? A squishy skull that if you squeeze it the eyes bulge out and it has this red liquid inside along with rats. Nice. This is a sweet souvenir and I can just see him wanting to bring this to show and tell at his peaceful little one room Montessouri preschool. Miss Shelly is going to love this. We tried to talk him out of it. Heck even the CM suggested he hold onto his money and maybe look around some more. No can do. So being the last day of vacation and feeling like a couple of softies we said fine it is your money and now he was the proud owner of this nasty squishy skull. (note, the skull made it to early January when from being squished too much, too hard it burst and the red goo, well it got on my beige living room carpet. It did come out but I was cursing the squishy skull that day, from Disney or not!)
Now I need to flash you back because the part that gets me all ferklempt is coming up.
Go back, back to October 1974. I am turning 5. For my 3rd birthday I went to DisneyWorld for the first time. I was with my Mom, Grandma, Great Aunts and several of my Mom's cousins. My first all girl trip. DW was turning 1 and I was turning 3. What could be better? Well 2 years later my Mom takes me again for my birthday, just she and I. You see it was just she and I. She married my Dad when she was 21 and he was 20. When I do all the math with the dates, well I figured out I might have just been the reason for the quickie wedding. Anyway, when she is 6 months along with me, he dies suddenly and unexpectedly. So she is now 21, pregnant and a widow. She is one of the strongest people I know and we have always been very, very close. I am so thankful for the childhood she gave me and for those early trips to Disney World.
So we are there, staying at the Contemporary. I do have memories from this trip even though I was so young. You remember random things, at least I do, something you saw, something you did. Not the whole trip but certain things have stayed burned in my mind.
The Magic Shop on Main Street. I don't know when it was taken away but it was there then. And I bought the best souvenir there when I was 5. It was an Invisible Dog. Really it was just a long leash with nothing in it. Just a leash. I remember being in the park with this and I remember even more being on the plane with it. Stewardesses (they were called that then) oohing and ahhing over my dog and talking to him. I was an animal lover as a kid and this was right up my alley. So simple yet so fun and definately a strong childhood memory to me.
Back to the present. We are at this cart and Goofy has bought his squishy skull when Bashful says "Mom, its an invisible dog". You see she has heard this story of my youth and has found one at this cart. Well I turned around and almost died. It was, it was one lone invisible dog. "Ohhhhhh" I said sucking in my breath so loud, you know when you are really excited. I think my eyes even teared up. "I had one of these when I was 5" I told the CM. She was smiling and told me she gets that reaction from many people from my generation. Another CM had come by and said it was the last one they had. We had not seen one at all through the week, not in a shop or with a guest. Well Bashful had to have it and I would have bought it for her if she had not had the $4. It may seem silly, an empty leash, but this was just Disney to me, it was the trip of MY youth and now my daughter was getting the same souvie on her trip and well, it just got to me.
I have to tell you, we got more attention with this invisible dog from CMs and other guests, it was so fun! Everyone would stop and look, like I said we had not seen anyone walking one all week. People would come up to "pet" her dog, grown men would ask what her puppies name was, CMs would pretend it was nipping at their feet. It was just a ball and she really enjoyed the attention it was creating and we all had fun with it. If you are wondering the dog's name is Tic-Tac.
So we went to ride Big Thunder and Splash while we were there. It was fun, redoing our favorites and we tried to just really enjoy them knowing it might be a while before we could do them again.
We wandered through Fantasyland and hit Peter Pan again and the Carousel too. There were just short waits and Bashful had her dog to entertain those around us while Goofy was squishing his skull and grossing out our fellow guests. I took this as we went around the carousel just to show the lack of crowds at this time. It was Fri 12/22 and probably like 10:00 or 10:30.
We walked towards Tomorrowland, stopping to spin on the Teacups one more time. We saw the Mad Hatter and Alice getting off of them while we were in line. Very cute!
In Tomorrowland we got a FP to do Buzz again and decided to grab some lunch at Cosmic Rays. It was just after 11 and they had just opened. We grabbed a table and the food was pretty good. I love the topping bar they have for the burgers, love those mushrooms! Belle had a great kids meal here, the salad. She loved it and it was a nice change from chicken or mac and cheese. They also had sugar free brownies here for kids instead of the same old jello. We liked watching Sonny what's his name. It wasn't crowded yet being so early so we had a nice lunch.
After bathroom breaks we went for our last spin on Buzz. Really fun and I lost again to Grumpy. Grrrrrr! Outside Goofy wanted to spend the very last of his money, no the skull was just not enough. So he ended up with a Buzz laser gun type thing. All I know is it is loud and I often say to Grumpy now "What were we thinking letting him buy this thing?" It is quite annoying.
We started walking towards the Castle. It was becoming clear that we needed to leave soon. My steps got slower as if that would put off the inevitable. We needed to leave.
But first we needed ice cream. We had a few more snack credits and it would just be wrong to let them go to waste right? So we got ice cream (we had pocketed the sugar free brownies for the plane ride so we had not eaten dessert) at the Ice Cream Shop and sat at some tables by The Plaza to eat and watch the ducks and just take in the last moments.
We finished up and it was time to walk out. MK was getting crowded now:
and I was thankful we had come the week before Christmas and had such a great week crowd wise and weather wise. We headed out and as we walked under the bridge I had to wipe the tears away, honest. It was so sad to leave.
We took the bus back to Pop and went to the gift shop. Bashful had a few more dollars (my kids can't bear the thought of coming home from vacation with unspent money) and so she got a huge pencil and a Minnie Mouse cup, the plastic kind with the top and the curly straw. We then go to the Food Court to spend our last 2 credits on a few items for the plane. As I am settling up Bashful drops her brand new cup and it breaks. Ugh. Wonderful CM to the rescue. She takes it, walks to the gift shop and brings her back a new one. She didn't have to do that, it was completely Bashful's mistake in dropping it and it was like a $10 cup if I remember correctly so not el cheapo and yet she just replaced it and gave her the new one with a smile. She was so nice, I wish I knew her name. Those are the things that set Disney apart from all the rest.
We went to get our luggage and Bob from Sunray was there for us. He gave us a few minutes to go quickly change into different (re: warmer) clothes for the trip back to Boston. We did that and then reluctantly got into Bob's very nice SUV.
*sigh* And so there you have it. We got to the airport, security was an absolute breeze, there were no long lines (and being Dec 22 I thought it would be packed) and our flight left on time at 4pm. We were due home to Boston at 7pm but with winds or whatnot we got in at like 6:30. Got our bags, found our limo and began the hour and a half drive home. The limo driver had gotton us the limo with the DVD player this time and had Elf waiting for us. He had no idea it is one of our most favorite family movies and so we needed those laughs at that point in time.
I'll be back one more time for my final thoughts and a sneak peek into our next trip. Only 4 of us are going on that one. Hmmmmm, which 4 and why?????
Yes we awoke by 7am and it was THE day. You know, the day you have to check out and go back to your real life. Say it isn't so, it can't be over?
We showered and got ready and gathered our things. I had packed the night before so it was just a matter of double triple checking we had everything and saying goodbye to our room.
The plan was to go check out, store the luggage and then go enjoy MK till after lunch. Sunray was not picking us up till 2pm so we had a decent amount of time to enjoy. How was everyone's mood? What do you think? How about a few photos of us leaving our room and going to check out?
Leave it to Grumpy to be the only human being excited to leave Disney World. Since we have been back and people ask him about the trip and what his favorite ride was he tells them, I kid you not, "The 747 Northbound to Boston". I want to wring his neck.
So we checked out, stored the bags and got in line for the MK bus. We arrived before the Opening show and got to see that again. Again I got goose bumps. It just gets me all emotional, doing the countdown, the characters, the music, seeing your kids look like this:
I took alot of pictures this day, remember I was trying to capture it all!
Today was a day to do some favorites over again. My memory is not the best on the order of events here but I will try! We walked down Main Street and I got what is my most favorite picture of the whole trip. I want to try and play around with it in my picture software, maybe make it black and white, but whatever way, I just love it.
We headed towards Liberty Square and had to wait for the rope to drop. Once in we visited the stockade for some typical tourist photo ops:
We were walking along and we came across a little merchandise cart. The girls wanted to pin trade so we stopped for them to do that. I will say I am so glad I got them pins and lanyards for this trip. I had no idea if they would get into it or not but they loved it and traded many many times throughout the week. I had gotton 11 pins from pincastle.com in a grab bag to start and they just used those. While there I did buy Belle a Lizzie McGuire Pin and I got a Lady and the Tramp one for Bashful. Those they wouldn't trade. I definately know that for Christmas they will be getting pins in the stocking this year.
So we are at this merchandise cart and Goofy has money burning a hole in his pocket. He wants something, anything. This cart being sort of near the Haunted Mansion was stocked with mostly weird and sometimes gross things. So what does he find? A squishy skull that if you squeeze it the eyes bulge out and it has this red liquid inside along with rats. Nice. This is a sweet souvenir and I can just see him wanting to bring this to show and tell at his peaceful little one room Montessouri preschool. Miss Shelly is going to love this. We tried to talk him out of it. Heck even the CM suggested he hold onto his money and maybe look around some more. No can do. So being the last day of vacation and feeling like a couple of softies we said fine it is your money and now he was the proud owner of this nasty squishy skull. (note, the skull made it to early January when from being squished too much, too hard it burst and the red goo, well it got on my beige living room carpet. It did come out but I was cursing the squishy skull that day, from Disney or not!)
Now I need to flash you back because the part that gets me all ferklempt is coming up.
Go back, back to October 1974. I am turning 5. For my 3rd birthday I went to DisneyWorld for the first time. I was with my Mom, Grandma, Great Aunts and several of my Mom's cousins. My first all girl trip. DW was turning 1 and I was turning 3. What could be better? Well 2 years later my Mom takes me again for my birthday, just she and I. You see it was just she and I. She married my Dad when she was 21 and he was 20. When I do all the math with the dates, well I figured out I might have just been the reason for the quickie wedding. Anyway, when she is 6 months along with me, he dies suddenly and unexpectedly. So she is now 21, pregnant and a widow. She is one of the strongest people I know and we have always been very, very close. I am so thankful for the childhood she gave me and for those early trips to Disney World.
So we are there, staying at the Contemporary. I do have memories from this trip even though I was so young. You remember random things, at least I do, something you saw, something you did. Not the whole trip but certain things have stayed burned in my mind.
The Magic Shop on Main Street. I don't know when it was taken away but it was there then. And I bought the best souvenir there when I was 5. It was an Invisible Dog. Really it was just a long leash with nothing in it. Just a leash. I remember being in the park with this and I remember even more being on the plane with it. Stewardesses (they were called that then) oohing and ahhing over my dog and talking to him. I was an animal lover as a kid and this was right up my alley. So simple yet so fun and definately a strong childhood memory to me.
Back to the present. We are at this cart and Goofy has bought his squishy skull when Bashful says "Mom, its an invisible dog". You see she has heard this story of my youth and has found one at this cart. Well I turned around and almost died. It was, it was one lone invisible dog. "Ohhhhhh" I said sucking in my breath so loud, you know when you are really excited. I think my eyes even teared up. "I had one of these when I was 5" I told the CM. She was smiling and told me she gets that reaction from many people from my generation. Another CM had come by and said it was the last one they had. We had not seen one at all through the week, not in a shop or with a guest. Well Bashful had to have it and I would have bought it for her if she had not had the $4. It may seem silly, an empty leash, but this was just Disney to me, it was the trip of MY youth and now my daughter was getting the same souvie on her trip and well, it just got to me.
I have to tell you, we got more attention with this invisible dog from CMs and other guests, it was so fun! Everyone would stop and look, like I said we had not seen anyone walking one all week. People would come up to "pet" her dog, grown men would ask what her puppies name was, CMs would pretend it was nipping at their feet. It was just a ball and she really enjoyed the attention it was creating and we all had fun with it. If you are wondering the dog's name is Tic-Tac.
So we went to ride Big Thunder and Splash while we were there. It was fun, redoing our favorites and we tried to just really enjoy them knowing it might be a while before we could do them again.
We wandered through Fantasyland and hit Peter Pan again and the Carousel too. There were just short waits and Bashful had her dog to entertain those around us while Goofy was squishing his skull and grossing out our fellow guests. I took this as we went around the carousel just to show the lack of crowds at this time. It was Fri 12/22 and probably like 10:00 or 10:30.
We walked towards Tomorrowland, stopping to spin on the Teacups one more time. We saw the Mad Hatter and Alice getting off of them while we were in line. Very cute!
In Tomorrowland we got a FP to do Buzz again and decided to grab some lunch at Cosmic Rays. It was just after 11 and they had just opened. We grabbed a table and the food was pretty good. I love the topping bar they have for the burgers, love those mushrooms! Belle had a great kids meal here, the salad. She loved it and it was a nice change from chicken or mac and cheese. They also had sugar free brownies here for kids instead of the same old jello. We liked watching Sonny what's his name. It wasn't crowded yet being so early so we had a nice lunch.
After bathroom breaks we went for our last spin on Buzz. Really fun and I lost again to Grumpy. Grrrrrr! Outside Goofy wanted to spend the very last of his money, no the skull was just not enough. So he ended up with a Buzz laser gun type thing. All I know is it is loud and I often say to Grumpy now "What were we thinking letting him buy this thing?" It is quite annoying.
We started walking towards the Castle. It was becoming clear that we needed to leave soon. My steps got slower as if that would put off the inevitable. We needed to leave.
But first we needed ice cream. We had a few more snack credits and it would just be wrong to let them go to waste right? So we got ice cream (we had pocketed the sugar free brownies for the plane ride so we had not eaten dessert) at the Ice Cream Shop and sat at some tables by The Plaza to eat and watch the ducks and just take in the last moments.
We finished up and it was time to walk out. MK was getting crowded now:
and I was thankful we had come the week before Christmas and had such a great week crowd wise and weather wise. We headed out and as we walked under the bridge I had to wipe the tears away, honest. It was so sad to leave.
We took the bus back to Pop and went to the gift shop. Bashful had a few more dollars (my kids can't bear the thought of coming home from vacation with unspent money) and so she got a huge pencil and a Minnie Mouse cup, the plastic kind with the top and the curly straw. We then go to the Food Court to spend our last 2 credits on a few items for the plane. As I am settling up Bashful drops her brand new cup and it breaks. Ugh. Wonderful CM to the rescue. She takes it, walks to the gift shop and brings her back a new one. She didn't have to do that, it was completely Bashful's mistake in dropping it and it was like a $10 cup if I remember correctly so not el cheapo and yet she just replaced it and gave her the new one with a smile. She was so nice, I wish I knew her name. Those are the things that set Disney apart from all the rest.
We went to get our luggage and Bob from Sunray was there for us. He gave us a few minutes to go quickly change into different (re: warmer) clothes for the trip back to Boston. We did that and then reluctantly got into Bob's very nice SUV.
*sigh* And so there you have it. We got to the airport, security was an absolute breeze, there were no long lines (and being Dec 22 I thought it would be packed) and our flight left on time at 4pm. We were due home to Boston at 7pm but with winds or whatnot we got in at like 6:30. Got our bags, found our limo and began the hour and a half drive home. The limo driver had gotton us the limo with the DVD player this time and had Elf waiting for us. He had no idea it is one of our most favorite family movies and so we needed those laughs at that point in time.
I'll be back one more time for my final thoughts and a sneak peek into our next trip. Only 4 of us are going on that one. Hmmmmm, which 4 and why?????
Schachteles
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 5, 2005
- Messages
- 4,503
Thank you for the GREAT report!! I have laughed and cried...my DH about fell over when he saw your video.
I am assuming that I know who is being left at home...I have told my DH that he can stay home in October and I would take the kids...no takers on that one!
Can't wait to hear more.
THANK YOU for sharing!!
I am assuming that I know who is being left at home...I have told my DH that he can stay home in October and I would take the kids...no takers on that one!
Can't wait to hear more.
THANK YOU for sharing!!
disneegrl4eva
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2004
- Messages
- 9,041
I would have never believed that this was your first TR...you had me so immersed from the minute I started reading this report...I have never subscribed to anyones tr until now...I was left stranded waiting for your last day and I couldnt just leave things as they are so thank you thank you for finishing it so speedily...I really felt the emotions of your trip and found myself tearing up a bit at times ...I totally know how you feel and how your inner child comes out when you are within the boundaries of disney fantasy...thanks so much for the good read...I will definitely be looking forward to your next report...thanks again
She bought that purse at Everything Pop! She loved it from the first time she saw it. She likes flashy things! I think it was like $28. I don't recall seeing it anywhere else.
Thanks so much, this has been very fun to write!
Allyson
I would have never believed that this was your first TR...you had me so immersed from the minute I started reading this report...I have never subscribed to anyones tr until now...I was left stranded waiting for your last day and I couldnt just leave things as they are so thank you thank you for finishing it so speedily...I really felt the emotions of your trip and found myself tearing up a bit at times ...I totally know how you feel and how your inner child comes out when you are within the boundaries of disney fantasy...thanks so much for the good read...I will definitely be looking forward to your next report...thanks again
Thank you, thank you so much. I am glad you enjoyed it. It was so fun to write and re-live. And to have readers, gosh it is like my 15 minutes of fame!
Allyson
Disneyanajc
~It's just a moment...This time will pass~
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 2,543
Thank you so much momofCKJ, this has been a truly magical trip report from the great laugh (video) to the teary end. In our houshold the call would go out......momofCKJ has added more.... and we would rush to the computer to read. Such a great read. 
Such a lovely family, 
Looking forward to your next trip (report).
JC and Family
Such a lovely family, Looking forward to your next trip (report).
JC and Family
Allyson,
I have enjoyed your trip report so much. You did a great job conveying all the emotions associated with Disney!! Your video and pictures were great!! I'll be looking forward to the next one.
By the way we are surprising our girls (10 & 3) with a trip for their birthdays in June. It was DH's idea to surprise them...we'll see how our reveal goes.
Liz
I have enjoyed your trip report so much. You did a great job conveying all the emotions associated with Disney!! Your video and pictures were great!! I'll be looking forward to the next one.
By the way we are surprising our girls (10 & 3) with a trip for their birthdays in June. It was DH's idea to surprise them...we'll see how our reveal goes.
Liz
This is the best trip report I have read. My family went to bed and I have stayed up reading the whole trip tonight. The video was so good. You realy should send it to Americas funniest videos. It might win and I am sure Grumpy would be happy...You know with kids its never what we expect. I am glad you enjoyed your trip.
Can't wait to hear about the next trip and which 4 are going??
Can't wait to hear about the next trip and which 4 are going??
I am so sad that your trip report is over! 
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. 
On happier notes, I cant wait to read your new trip report when you get back from your next trip and I just LOVE belle's purse she was wearing on the last day - it was too cute! 
Thanks for sharing such a great trip and awesome pictures!
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. On happier notes, I cant wait to read your new trip report when you get back from your next trip and I just LOVE belle's purse she was wearing on the last day - it was too cute! Thanks for sharing such a great trip and awesome pictures! 
I loved your last post. It is absolutely odd the little things you remember from your childhood Disney trip(s)... I remember so clearly being "lost" in fantasyland and the painters on main street, a big fish mural(20,000 leagues just being built?), wearing my minnie ears and holding the hand of my favorite Aunt Net who loved Disney and past away shortly after, we went for only 1 day in the early 70's (1973?) and I have a lot of treasured memories from the day we went to Disney. The only thing better than those memories was taking my children.
I am thrilled that you are planning another trip, so we can benefit from another trip report. You are definately on my top 10 best reads... thanks!
I am thrilled that you are planning another trip, so we can benefit from another trip report. You are definately on my top 10 best reads... thanks!
mindystar
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2005
- Messages
- 1,449
That's the face that matches the feeling of leaving WDW! Plus he's just super cute
I had totally forgot about that
shop, but I do remember going into it before--so even if the only time I saw it was our first trip, it would have still been there in 1993. So thank you for bringing back that memory What a cute name and very creative
Man, I'm glad I'm not a "child" anymore, cause they really did get the shaft with the so called desserts. If anything I think it should be the other way around, an array of sweets for the kiddies and sugar free/fat free/taste free stuff for the adults. (Except not really, cause I like sweet stuff on vacation, cause like you said before--we're on vacation, from our sometimes boring life and that goes for the boring food as well
)That was so me (oh, who am I kidding, I'm still that way!) having to spend every dollar on something down in WDW, after all that's what it was saved for and who wants to use the left over money for pratical things when you get back home anyways
Thank you so much for posting your TR and letting us all in on your adventure! It sure has been fun
pigletforever
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2006
- Messages
- 1,137
Loved the report. Your son is so cute in the picture with his suitcase. I know the feeling well.
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