The Pembo's Return!!!! 11/28 - 12/4

[Pembo]

**The Pre-Trip Info**
Me-The obsessed planner who planned this trip in 30 days.
DH-The guy who is becoming more obsessed every trip.
ds age 7 - I'll call him Sorcerer Mickey - his 2nd trip
ds age 5 - First Trip!!! - I'll call him Sleepy.

At the end of October I had a bad couple days. Dh & I got to talking about our sort-of planned trip to WDW in 2004. Then all of a sudden he said what about after Thanksgiving. So a few clicks on the computer later and we were set to go. I made him call grandma about keeping the baby.

Within a day I had flights on Airtran, a room at POR, and tix to MVMCP. A quick trip to the mall and the Park Hoppers were mine.

I started packing on the Monday before Thanksgiving and was mostly ready to go on Tuesday. I only needed a little bit of time on Thanksgiving to finish up.

LET'S GO........................

 

[Pembo]

Good-bye Sleet, Hello Sunshine!

We left Akron on a lovely rain/sleet/snow gray sky kind of day. The perfect weather to leave behind on a trip to Florida. We arrived in Orlando to a temp of 85, blue sky, and sunshine.

A few notes about our Journey.

We flew AirTran for the first time out of the Canton-Akron Airport. This was a great experience. The airport is small, only 9 gates. Parking was easy and security was quick. Our flight was full but flawless.

After arriving in Orlando, we made a quick stop in the restroom to change into shorts! and then headed to baggage where Monica, from Tiffany Towncar Driver was waiting for us. She whisked us away to the grocery store and then to Port Orleans Riverside.

Check-in was quick. It was 5 p.m. so the lobby was deserted. I had paid for a waterview room with the AAA rate. I faxed a request for a non-smoking, first floor room with a trundle bed in building 14. And that is EXACTLY what we got. As we waited for bell services, it began to rain. Not just a sprinkle but a monsoon. That lasted for, oh, 5 minutes. By the time we got to our room the rain was gone.

After dumping our stuff in our room and filling our styrofoam cooler with ice we headed to the Food court which we could see from our room and had a quick dinner. Then it was off to the pool. For a group of Ohioians, swimming outside at night at the end of December is quite a treat.

After a relaxing swim we headed off to bed to be ready for our first day at the parks!

 

[Pembo]

Who are these Pin Kids and what have they done with are my boys????

Mickey woke us at 6:45. It's amazing how quick you get up when 1. the sun is out and 2. you are in WDW! We made it to the bus stop by 7:20 and quickly hopped a bus to MGM and the EMH!

The first thing we noticed today is that it was COLD! 40 degrees. A big change from last night. We put on jeans, t-shirts, sweatshirts and our raincoats for warmth.

Got to MGM just at the rope drop and headed straight to Rock-n-Roller Coaster. DS aka Sorceror Mickey (SM), wasn't tall enough to ride this on his 1st trip to WDW so it was a must-do for him. We got a baby-swap ticket for dh and DS & I headed in. He loved this ride! His only complaint---Mom quit screaming! We know he loved it, because he actually did it again with his dad.

We then headed towards the Great Movie Ride and stopped at a Hat shop. DS spied a SM hat. He loved it but it was $20 and he only had $35 to spend the whole week. So he didn't buy it. We headed to the GIANT Hat and there my boys became Pin freaks. They were running from display to display wanting pins!

We bought them 2 each, put them on their sweatshirts and dragged them into the Great Movie Ride. It was nice to be inside and WARM! After our ride we headed over to Al's Toy Barn and there they were, Jessie, Woody and Buzz.

One digression, DS#1 has been a Toy Story FANATIC since the age of 16 months. It is starting to wane, a little, now that he is almost 8 but once he saw them.......the magic returned! DS#2 loves them as well. At this moment dh & I knew that our decision to come to WDW now was well worth every penny. We were a little afraid that the magic of Buzz would disappear if we waited too long.

After our visit with them we found LOTS of characters by the HAT. My boys were also avid autograph collectors. We ran over to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, saw a few more characters, and saw the show. WOW! This one was new on our last trip and we never got in to see it. I can understand why it is so popular. The hotseat contestant was a girl, age 11, who seemed real uncomfortable with being in the hotseat. She did pretty well though.

We had lunch at the Backlot Express, played in the Honey I Shrunk Playground and realized that the park was getting VERY crowded so we headed out to the bus and the Animal Kingdom.

 

[Pembo]

I can't belive I'm actually COLD at Animal Kingdom!

We didn't wait long for a bus to AK. It was still very cold for Florida. On our other trips to WDW it was always so HOT at AK you had to leave before you passed out from heat exhaustion. I was kind of hoping it would be warmer there. Alas, I was still cold. However with all the vegetataion it was a little less windy, which was nice.

We got thru the security and there were characters everywhere. We got quite a few autographs there!

We headed to Africa first thing. The drummers were playing and ds#2 got picked to help them out. He loved all the attention. Grabbed FP for the Safari and took a walk down the trail. I'd hoped that the animals would be active since it was cold but instead we saw very little! I think the animals were all freezing as well. We rode the Safari then found a seat for the parade, right at the start of it.

This parade didn't thrill me very much. I'm not sure if it was the music or what but I don't think I need to see it again. After the parade we walked right on the Safari and then headed to Rafiki's.
It was about 4:30 and the animals in the petting area go in at 5. This was one of the funniest moments of our trip.

The keepers were in the building and the donkeys could see them. One donkey would start with this long noise then break into the hee-haw, hee-haw. I just can't describe the noise but it was HILARIOUS! Then the other donkey would do it, then the cow would moo. The goats were also pretty funny. Ds#1 was very annoyed that one goat kept trying to eat his coat. DS#2, my animal lover, just wanted to stay there forever.

We finally headed into the Conservation building. HEAT! There we saw Rafiki and Stanley. The boys also got to see an iguana up close and DS#1 amazed us with his knowledge on reptiles. He was answering all of the cm's questions. Proud parent moment.

After more wandering around, we headed back to the train. It was now about 5:45 and the park closed at 6. We walked thru Africa, alone. It was very weird to be almost alone there!

As we headed out of the park there were characters everywhere. It was getting dark so we only got a few autographs. We headed into RFC. The wait time was 30 mins but there was lots of seating in the bar area so that's where we went. The boys loved seeing all the animals in their Santa hats! After the best meal of the week, I love that Pot Roast, we headed out to the bus stop. I couldn't wait to take a LONG, HOT shower! But first we saw Koda & Kenai by the big Christmas tree. One last picture and back to POR.

 

[Pembo]

Sorcerer Mickey & Santa Minnie Join the Family

6:45 - Mickey calls again. Up and at 'em it's time to go ride Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin!!!!! Amazingly the boys are ready in record time and we are at the bus stop by 7:25 again. The day has dawned sunny again and a little warmer than yesterday. We leave our raincoats behind today.

We get to the MK to see the official opening and head straight for the stroller rental! DS#2 needs a lot of sleep and we pushed him really hard yesterday. He walked the whole day! But we decide we better not push our luck today. If we want to get anywhere without whining, a stroller is a necessity.

We head straight to Buzz, it's not quite ready yet so we are the official First riders of the Day at....the TTC! LOL!!! No that isn't really an official thing but we made a big deal out of it. After our ride thru Tomorrowland we run to Buzz and walk right on, 3 times! I think my boys would have just kept riding this one all day.

I headed to Space Mountain with Ds#1 and dh takes DS#2 on Astro Orbiters. A note here---ds #1 would NOT ride AO on our last trip. So poor Dh had to ride alone. He was thrilled that ds#2 was game to try. He did say that once they got on, ds said he didn't want to ride it but it was too late by that time. Poor kid. It won't be the first time he rides something he hates.

DH then heads to the speedway and walks right on with ds#2. We all meet up by the Buzz Kiosk with all the great merchandise. We head off to Fantasyland. DH convinces ds#2 to ride the teacups. Another one that ds#1 wouldn't ride. Again ds#2 isn't too sure about it once he is on it. We head for Pooh.

This is where I'm ready to give ds#1 to another family. He copped an attitude that only 7 year olds can. For our entire time in Fantasyland he was just so annoyed! We ignored his mood and dragged him on everything. I think he may just have had fun in spite of himself, but he'll never tell. Except for Small World. If you want to torture ds#1, just sing that song. We do, often!

In the midst of our Fantasyland tour, we stop at the shop that has the giant beanstalk growing on the ceiling and ds once again longingly eyes those SM hats. I made a deal with him. I'll pay half. He isn't so sure that is a good deal but goes along with it.

It was the best purchase of our trip. He never took that hat off. I've even found him sleeping in it some mornings since we've returned. Best $10 I ever spent.

After lunch at Columbia Harbour House and another melt-down by ds#1 we head to the RiverBoat. We were all on board, wandering around when ds#2 announces he has to go the bathroom. Oy! Why didn't he go when the rest of us did 5 mins ago?! Dh swoops him up and heads up the gangplank. DS & I follow behind at a much slower pace. By the time they are done, we just missed the boat. AGH!

We caught a few rides in Adventureland and settle in for the parade. I can't believe I'm seeing the Snow Globe parade! WOW!
Plus I had my favorite chocolate cake from the Main Street Bakery. I really am in heaven.

After the parade we head to the monorail and Epcot. I asked if we could ride with the driver and was told they had 2 in there, so they could only take 2. I sent the boys up and Dh & I enjoyed a peaceful ride to Epcot. Our only time alone the whole week! Thanks Monorail Driver!

We got to Epcot and I bought the Minnie Santa Claus hat I had been eyeing since yesterday. Another golden purchase....really kept me warm and I hate hats! I had read on the boards to not be afraid to get in the spirit of Christmas so I bought a hat. It did make me feel festive. And I threw it on the other day when I had to shovel snow off the back patio. Kept me warm again.

We rode Spaceship Earth. This turned out to be my 5 yo's favorite ride. I'm not sure why but he loved it. Then we headed back to the stand-by line for the 6:45 CP. It was 5:45. Dh went and got dinner for us in America which we ate while sitting in line. That was a great way to pass the time. We ended up with decent seats for CP. The boys were way tired and way bored with CP but DH & I were in love. This is by far the best experience I've ever had at Disney. I would come back just for it! WOW!

After the show, we headed to the bus. One negative comment here....it is really dark in the WS! Why is that?

Got back to our room and collapsed. 2 commando days of touring and I am beat.

 

[Pembo]

Does it go fast? Do things jump out at you? Is it scary?

6:50 - Good Morning Mickey. It is a little warmer today and still that beautiful Sunshine and blue sky. Today is EMH at the Animal Kingdom. We missed the opening but were there by 8:30.

Our first stop after meeting Flik, was It's Tough to Be a Bug. Ds#2 was very excited about the "bug glasses" but we left this one early. He hated it! He never watches 3-d shows with the glasses and this was no exception, he just didn't like all the added effects and it is really loud!

Our next stop was Dinoland. We split up. DS#1 & Dh went on the Triceratops Spin. Neither of them liked it all that much. Too much spin. DS#2 & I rode Hester & Lester, twice without having to get off. Woo-hoo.......... We headed to Dinosaur and were still trying to decide if we should take ds#2. I read alot of mixed reviews about it and in the end he & I waited outside. DH said it was a good thing we did.

We headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey, got lots of pics and autographs. Saw Festival of the Lion King. This one is still so amazing. Then had lunch at Pizzafari. I bought 2 of the lunch vouchers. This is a great idea and a good value. The boys each had pizza and it was awesome to get a "free" mickey bar and pop later in the day. I hope they come up with these vouchers at all the parks. A great perk for those of us who eat mostly counter service.

We saw Tarzan Rocks, wandered around Asia and realized we were all exhausted. After another bout at the pin shop we headed to the bus. This was the one time we waited FOREVER for a bus. It did finally come but it was the worst bus wait we had the whole trip.

We went back to POR and headed to the pool. The boys swam, dh & I laid in the sun, in December! How fun is that for an Ohioian.

The original plan was to go back to MGM and catch Fantasmic. But we were tired and an hour waiting in that stadium sounded like torture. So we went to the MK. Saw Spectro, rode a few rides and saw Wishes!

I liked Spector but the Main St. Elec Parade was better, IMHO. Wishes, was incredible!

We headed back to POR for a long winter's nap..........

 

[Pembo]

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party 2003

Today was our "rest" day since we were planning on MVMCP that night. Even though Mickey wasn't going to call I was still awake at 7. I needed to do laundry and spent an hour over there. The washers are quick but the dryers......oy.........it took 3 cycles on HOT to sort of dry the jeans. Dh ended up taking them back for one more time that afternoon.

I did enjoy doing laundry though. I sat by the quiet pool, alone, watching the steam rise off the water and just enjoyed the beauty of POR. I also tried to soak up as much of the sunshine and blue sky as I could. (After coming home I didnt' see the sun for almost 10 days.)

Finally the laundry was done and we headed to Downtown Disney. We tried the boat but it runs on the hour and it was 10:30. So we took the bus.

We had a relaxing morning shopping and the boys had McDonalds for lunch. We caught the boat back to POR. I love this ride, one of my favorite things of POR.

Headed to the pool again. It was warmer but I chose to not swim. Around 3:30 we headed in to get ready for MVMCP! Dh made a call and found out we could indeed get in the park with our tix at 4.

We got there about 4:30, got our complimentary double stroller and headed to Adventureland. We rode a couple rides and were the last group on the Jungle Cruise for the night. We headed to Tomorrowland and found no lines for the rides! Rode Buzz, drove the cars and it was 7 p.m. Headed over to Mickey's ToonTown. I got my picture with Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother. I've never seen them before.

The party was incredible. We rode rides during the first parade but watched Wishes from the "Tinkerbell" side. Again, I loved Wishes! We then pushed forward to see the show at the Castle Forecourt. DS#2 fell asleep. He slept for the next 3 hours in his stroller. Waking up halfway thru the parade. I got us a place on Main St for the parade and dh took ds to see Mickey's Philharmagic again. I sat on the curb for an hour and it was getting colder by the minute. It was also crowded. I'm glad I got there when I did.

The parade was incredible and when it started to snow.......WOW. I can't say enough about the whole MVMCP! I wish we had more time to see all the shows but the boys wanted to ride as well. This was a blast. I told DH I would love to come back during the Xmas season just for MVMCP and CP.

We left the park at midnight with dh carrying ds#2.


oh no........only one day in the parks left..........don't think about it!



W

 

[Pembo]

The Big Swordfight!

Dh was amazed with me. I had been very spontaneous this trip. First I planned it only a month ahead. Then I bought a hat! I also bought the boys those light up swords. Something I never would buy!

We took them with us in the backpack on our trip to Epcot.

7:15 Mickey calls. We all drag out of bed. Last night was a late one but it's our LAST day!!!! We head out to Epcot. First stop, Spaceship Earth. Went on Test Track. Took ds#1 on the Singles line. He was a little uneasy with the idea but we ended up in the same car and he liked it. Dh wanted to ride Mission Space. So did ds#1. I wasn't sure. So dh went ahead in the 10 min standby line. 10 mins took forever. The preshow stuff takes quite awhile. He said that ds could handle it but we didn't want to wait anymore. While ds's and & I waited, they had a great swordfight on the hill across from Ellen's Energy. I have the cutest pics of my Sorcerer Mickey!

We ride Ellen. Partway thru, ds#2 says "That sounds like Dory". We decide to skip the rest of FW and head to the WS so they can make some masks. We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella and start in Canada. We made great progress until we got to Italy. Here we met up with school groups! Ugh! They were going thru the WS in the opposite direction but there seemed to be a million of them.

We got our masks finished, rode Maelstrom and made a mad dash for the exit. We had to get to MGM to the Stars & Motor Cars Parade!!!!! We made it with minutes to spare. We found a spot on the curb, enough room for one boy and the other in the stroller behind him.

After the parade we got to see Mike & Sulley and caught the Playhouse Disney show. We were all feeling really tired by this time. We went to ride ToT, did the baby swap, then went for one last ride on RnR. As we waited for DH to ride, it started to rain. That cinched it, no Fantasmic this trip! We were tired and the threat of rain solved the dilemma of whether we should stay or not. (It only rained a little on & off for a bit but it was still a good decision).

We headed to the bus and POR! Goodbye PARKS!

After MORE shopping at the POR gift shop and another tantrum over pins we went to bed. I think Santa Claus has pins in his bag for my boys.

 

[Pembo]

Goodbye Sunshine and WDW!

Mickey called this morning and we all were depressed. Today we had to go home. Moncia from Tiffany would be there at 8:30 am for us. We got up and finished packing. As we dragged our suitcases to the front of the resort I realized it was already warmer this morning than any other day. Bummer!

Monica was right on time and off we went to MCO. No problems getting thru security. Thursday after Thanksgiving is a great time to travel. The airport was pretty empty.

We just kept staring out at the !!!!

We board our AirTran flight and off we go. We saw sunshine all the way to Akron but on our drive home it disappeared and I didn't see it again for 10 days. In fact the day after we came home it started to snow!!!!

Final Thoughts:

Positives: The week after Thanksgiving is awesome. Low crowds, Christmas decorations are beautiful. CP & MVMCP are not to be missed. POR was as wonderful as always. Swimming in Dec is amazing!

Negatives: The weather was cool. It had been in the 80's before we got there. But that is the chance you take in Dec. Our trip was too short. But aren't they all???

WDW 2006 is our next goal............

Hope you enjoyed reading about our trip. It was so much more amazing than I can write but these were the highlights!

 

[DisneyMom5]

Very nice, complete, report--nice format. Thanks! I hope it is warmer when we go in Feb.!

 

[IloveDMB]

Thanks for sharing your trip! Sounds like everyone had a great time and really enjoyed themselves.

 

[Minniespal]

Wonderful trip report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[dizneenut]

So glad to hear that you had such a magical trip!

Next time....how about taking me along?

 

[Byrd]

Makes me want to go! A day without Mickey is a day without sunshine. Glad you had a great time.
Byrd

 

[Tuffcookie]

Barb, I enjoyed reading your reports! It's putting me in the mood for our Spring Break 2004 trip. Isn't CAK the best airport to fly out of?!

TC

 

[TammyNC]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us.

 

[Towncrier]

Great trip report. Sorry we didn't cross paths for the one day that our trips overlapped. I heard that you bumped into ASFCurly (Alisha) at the airport in Orlando.

It's A Small World (Afterall).