The Mousekafreak Returns to the World!

[Linzybrooke]

Dun-Duh-Duh-Duh!!! Hear ye, Hear ye the next Mousekafreak's trip report shall now commence!

I just returned last night from a 5 night stay at Pop Century Resort with my Sister-In-Law, Ashley. We had an amazing time and I am ready to write a full report!

Cast of Characters:
Lin (me)- Obsessive Disney Freak, nicknamed Mousekafreak by my best friend. Find my “Happy Place” as soon as the plane takes off. Disney Store Assistant Manager.

Ashley (DSL)- Another Disney Fan, we are a family full of them! Music teacher who is also the newest member of our family.

Location:
Pop Century and the rest of the World...and a brief but entertaining stint at the Orlando International Airport...

Time:
January 10th-15th, 2007

Synopsis:
Our crazy, post-holiday stress, much needed, pixie-dust filled, relaxed and wonderful husband-free vacation. Its not that we didn't want the guys to come...they just couldn't get off work!

First Act to Commence Shortly!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Prolouge:

I have yet to upload my pictures onto the computer and I can't remember how...so let me start by telling you all how this trip came to be.

Back in late September I get the Disney Itch...that insatiable itch to be back at the World that simply won't go away. The boards were full of people planning their Mickeys Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party trips and I was so sad not to have a trip in the works. Particullarly because I was heading rapidly into the busiest and most stressful part of the year for me at work. I knew I needed something to both take my mind off of the craziness and to look forward to after the season ended. So, I started dropping the Disney hint to my DH, Chris. Chris, though he loves Disney, wasn't ready to go again since we were there in June and he didn't want to use any more vacation so I sort of dropped the hint to my sister-in-law Ashley who was also itching for a trip. I guess we were persistent enough because finally Chris and his brother Andrew gave in and we got to book our trip!

The original plan was to stay at Port Orleans but after crunching the numbers we realized that we could stay an extra day/night if we stayed at Pop.

So, the next few months were full of Dis-surfing, Guidebook reading, and anticipation for January 10th.

 

[DonnaLeah]

Can't wait for the rest of your report!!!!

 

[lyzziesmom]

Great start! I can't wait to hear more.

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

I can't wait to read the rest!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Ugh! I'm having a horrible time uploading my pictures to snapfish! I have a few on there and might write a little anyways! Sorry for the delay!

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

Lin,
Great start!!

I'm really enjoying it.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[DisneyFan06]

Loving it so far!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Act One:
Scene One:
Location: DFW Airport, MCO Airport and Pop Century Resort

I took the 10th off of work so that I could pack and prepare for our trip. This of course turned into my sleeping in a lot longer than expected and then frantically trying to pack, running to the cleaners for my coat, getting some stuff at the grocery store and going to the bank, and of course Dis-ing much longer than I should have. I thought our flight was at 6:50PM only to find out when Ashley called to confirm when I was picking her up that it was actually at 6:20! Yikes, I had not planned on that! So I frantically threw whatever else I thought I might need into my suitcase and ran out the door to pick her up at 3:30…and I was only 15 minutes late! Gotta love traffic.

From Ashley’s apartment we headed towards my moms house so we could drop off my car and she could take us to the airport. I had forgotten to call my mom and tell her about our flight time update so when we arrived my mom was taking her time. But, we made it to the airport on time and even had time for a cinnamon and sugar pretzel before getting on the plane. The pretzel was a great start to the rest of the nutritious cuisine we had while in the World!

The flight down was uneventful. We had fun discovering the wonders of the SkyMall magazine (that thing cracks me up) before settling in with out MP3 players for the remainder of the flight.

We got to MCO and of course went the wrong direction to catch Magical Express but were easily directed to the correct area by a representative that they have placed there because so many people go the wrong direction. Glad I’m not alone! The bus driver was quite funny and made the trip both relaxing and enjoyable. It was interesting to note that they have not updated the Magical Express video, its still all about The Happiest Celebration on Earth and goes into a bit about Cinderellabration. One poor little girl got all excited about seeing it and I didn’t have the heart to turn around and tell her that it wasn’t there anymore!

Pop was the first stop on the ME bus and we were in, checked in and headed towards our room in a matter of minutes. Our luggage arrived just a little before midnight and we settled in for a nights sleep before heading out early the next morning!

 

[OhMari]

I see your "ear's, did you win them as a YOAMD or buy them.

 

[Linzybrooke]

I see your "ear's, did you win them as a YOAMD or buy them.

Those are actually the old school bridal ears! But, stay tuned to find out what YOAMD dream did occur!

It is interesting to note that you can't buy the light blue ears with the clouds, only win them. The ones you can buy are navy with silver ears that light up...and are 15.00! I passed on those.

Good to have you aboard!

 

[Davidsmommy]

I'm squinting at your pics to see if we ran into you! We were also at Pop Jan 10 - 17 (just got home - haven't updated my trippie yet - maybe tomorrow). Beautiful weather we had, huh?! Loved it!

We were in the 50's building - C section room 3310 - You probably saw me hissing at my son to stop running into people......

 

[Linzybrooke]

I'm squinting at your pics to see if we ran into you! We were also at Pop Jan 10 - 17 (just got home - haven't updated my trippie yet - maybe tomorrow). Beautiful weather we had, huh?! Loved it!

We were in the 50's building - C section room 3310 - You probably saw me hissing at my son to stop running into people......

Hehehe, we were in the 80's section, room 7215. We may have seen you in the food court! As soon as I get started with the next section I'll have more pics of me that are a little bit bigger, and some of Ashley. Thats my DH in the pics in my signature and he wasn't with me this trip!

 

[AnninIowa]

Subscribing!!

 

[YourMajesty]

Those are actually the old school bridal ears! But, stay tuned to find out what YOAMD dream did occur!

It is interesting to note that you can't buy the light blue ears with the clouds, only win them. The ones you can buy are navy with silver ears that light up...and are 15.00! I passed on those.

Good to have you aboard!

Lin...if you have time can you elaborate on how they go about YOAMD? Like how do you enter and how do they pick out winners?

Ok...back to the story.

 

[Linzybrooke]

Lin...if you have time can you elaborate on how they go about YOAMD? Like how do you enter and how do they pick out winners?

Ok...back to the story.

Hey YM! Here is what I found out from one of my friends that works at the world. There is a special group of people that are in the Dream Squad. You can identify them by the blue shirt, khakis and black satchel that says Year of a Million Dreams. They all wear earbuds and are radioed to go to a specific location and hand out a dream. Sometimes it will be "Go to Soarin' A Side and give all guests waiting in the terminal a pin lanyard" and sometimes it can be "find a family of 6 near Cinderellas Castle and give them each a dream fast pass" She said there are a lot that are given out at rides so that a large number of people are given a prize. You don't have to do anything but be in the right place at the right time. Its a pretty cool thing!

 

[YourMajesty]

Hey YM! Here is what I found out from one of my friends that works at the world. There is a special group of people that are in the Dream Squad. You can identify them by the blue shirt, khakis and black satchel that says Year of a Million Dreams. They all wear earbuds and are radioed to go to a specific location and hand out a dream. Sometimes it will be "Go to Soarin' A Side and give all guests waiting in the terminal a pin lanyard" and sometimes it can be "find a family of 6 near Cinderellas Castle and give them each a dream fast pass" She said there are a lot that are given out at rides so that a large number of people are given a prize. You don't have to do anything but be in the right place at the right time. Its a pretty cool thing!

Thanks Lin for the explanation....that sounds like SOOO much fun....hope someone in our group is feeling lucky!

 

[lyzziesmom]

I feel lucky! Do you feel lucky??

 

[pozey]

Lin,
Just now getting around to reading your trip report.

Great start!! I'm ready for more now!!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Act Two:
Scene One:
Location: Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom and back to Downtown Disney.

The morning came a little too quickly for two sleepy girls from Texas but we were excited and ready to go much faster than we figures we would be.

Our first stop of the day was the Pop Food Court for some tasty breakfast pastries and soda and then onto the bus to head downtown. I had a quick meeting at the Casting building to see an old friend who moved down to Orlando from Dallas a year or so ago. She was going to be working the whole time we were there but she managed to “schedule” a meeting with me so we could see each other. Ashley was going to shop a little while I met with her.

After getting a little lost on my way to Casting I finally got there, checked in for my meeting and waited in the lobby.

Can I just say that the Casting building is pretty awesome! Its so pretty. The doorknobs to go inside are the doorknob from Alice in Wonderland! I wish I had taken a picture but I thought that might have been a little weird. I did manage to sneak in a picture of the building though.

The inside is just as cool. There is a huge snowglobe in the middle of the waiting area with Cinderellas castle in the middle and a huge peak of a skywindow. I had to laugh because all the people checking in for interviews were having to watch a Disney Video about working for the company and it was the same brunette chick that does the Top 7 Disney Attractions movie.

I had a good chat with my friend, it was nice catching up with her. And then it was back across the street to meet back up with Ashley, stop by the resort and then head to Animal Kingdom.