Cast:
Rawry: Thats me! 43
Mitchy Mama: My partner in Disney 39/40
Devo: The oldest son 16/17
JoJo: The middle child 13
Sissy: Her Highness 5
MeMe: Mother in Law ????
The tradition continues
Saturday, June 14th / Day 4
I know when we come down that we always take back more than we came with. But I wasnt prepared for this much stuff this soon. I do believe that we have hit every gift shop and store and bought something at each one. Somehow we manage to get everything in bags and call for Bell Service. This time it takes them two carts to carry all of our stuff down to the lobby. We work our way down and settle the bill. I really enjoyed my stay here and would do it again in a heartbeat. The entertainment rate and the Express Pass made it a very good deal in my opinion.
Sissy has insisted that she needs some breakfast meat this morning. My family loves it pork. Bacon, Sausage, and Ham. Pork Fat Rules to quote Emeril. We headed downstairs to the Sunset Grill for the breakfast buffet. Gotta love that fresh Florida orange juice. Told the waiter to hit me and keep em comin. Good selection, everything that was supposed to be hot was. We finished just about the time that our driver was to pick us up from YourRide. Driver was right on time and we bid farewell to Universal. This was the first time in 10 years that we had been here and was worth the few the days that we set aside to go again. I know I may be a Disney bigot because a lot of the time I was at Universal, I was comparing things to Disney. There was just something missing to me. It may have been everything that was on my mind, but I just wasnt into it yet. I was really excited to be heading to the World. Hopefully now I could get that contented and magical feeling that I was somehow expecting.
Arrived at the Swan around 10:30 and headed straight for check in. I had sent a note a couple of weeks before indicating everything that we were celebrating on the trip, my Starwood number, etc All I asked for was a room with a nice view as a special request. The gentleman said that one of our rooms was ready but the other wasnt. We told them to pile all of the luggage in the one room and we headed upstairs. We got rooms on the 10th floor that looked out the front of the building, dead center. Not the ones that look back at the dolphin, but the side where it looks out at MGM, EPCOT, waterway, and Boardwalk. Threw open the drapes and the view was spectacular. The beds looked almost too inviting and I could hardly wait to try them out tonight. The bellman unloaded our bags and he also volunteered to go and fill the cooler with ice. It was an offer that I just couldnt refuse.
We headed out to Epcot to spend a few hours. Devo and JoJo always seem to need to hit the gifts shop in England. They are both into tennis big time and like to see the latest sampling of Wimbledon wear. They both got new shirts and tennis balls before I knew what hit me. Next, we managed to snag a FastPass for Test Track and then took MeMe to Ice Station Cool. I love to watch people try Beverly for the first time, even if it is my mother in law. I just enjoy hanging back as people are trying the different sodas just waiting for them to fill their cup with the beloved Beverly. A good belly laugh can always be found. Did Ellens Energy and Spaceship Earth and then that meal battle started up again. I didnt want to eat anything big since we had a buffet planned for dinner. We wandered around aimlessly for awhile until we came across a hotdog cart close to Mexico. Grabbed a few of those foot longs, and found a couple benches in the shade. Not a glamorous meal but it sure hit the spot.
By this time it is time to head back to Test Track. This is one of Sissys favorite rides. Today however there seems to be a problem. We used our passes and make it through the line quickly. Once in the staging area though, we stand around for about 15 minutes waiting for the doors to open. I mean we are packed in here like sardines. It seems that today the air-conditioning isnt quite working either. So its hot and crowded and Im about ready to bail out until finally the doors open and we all shove our way into the pre-show. Everything went fine for awhile and at least it was cooler in here. We loaded into our cars and hit the road course. Then we get to the brake test area. For some reason our car brakes really hard about halfway down the roadway and then barely crawls forward until we almost hit the car in front of us. This all happened right before the heat chamber. Have you ever wondered what would happen if your car got stuck in there with the heat lights on? About ten minutes later the lights in the building come on and we get to look around. Its not near as exciting as seeing Space Mountain with the lights on. It pretty much looks the same as you would expect with the lights off. About five minutes later we take off again, but the voices over the speaker in the car dont quite match up with the ride anymore. When we got back to the boarding area I was hoping that they might send us through again, but no such luck. We then march over to see Figment. We really enjoyed this ride and the little song diddy is quite catchy. Kind of like Its a Small World. We kept catching ourselves singing it for the rest of the day. This ride now ranks at the top of Sissys must do list for Epcot.
At this point everyone was pretty pooped out. Went back to the hotel and Mitchy MaMa, Sissy and I headed to the pool. I lost track of how many times we went down the water slide. Last time we were here, you couldnt have paid her to go down the slide. Now, we cant get her to stop. Finally I convince Sissy that we have to leave if she is going to have dinner with Mickey. That really got those little feet a movin. We head back in and find that the other room is ready. MeMe and Sissy move all of their stuff in there and now we are at least able to walk through our room without tripping over a suitcase.
We hopped the bus for the Magic Kingdom and then walked to the Resort Monorail station. Short ride over to the Contemporary and guess what? Were early! Weve got about fifteen minutes to kill. I know. Lets hit the gift shops. After all, you cant have too many souvenirs. I think we only bought one or two things before it was time to go and check in. We got our picture taken with the giant plate and then went to sit down while we waited for our table. Donald Duck was in the lobby tonight and he was in a fowl mood. Sorry, I couldnt resist. We only waited a few minutes before they showed us to our table. Dinner went off without a hitch. No napkins flinging cocktail sauce over everyone like last time we were here. This dinner has come to be a tradition for us. We always (knock on wood) eat at Chef Mickeys our first night at Disney World. It just seems to put everyone in a good mood and gives the vacation a little kick start. Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Goofy were making the rounds tonight. During the meal they brought us copies of the pictures that they had taken earlier for our viewing and hopeful purchase. It was a dang good picture I thought. We decided to by the package until I started looking through the rest of the pictures. The top picture was of us, but some of these other pictures are of a different family. When the guy came back to find our decision about the pictures I told him I would only buy them if he could tell me who these other people were. I didnt mean to embarrass the guy, but he turned red, took our package, and muttered something about being right back. A couple of minutes later he returned and apologized and now we had all of the right pictures. So now Im the proud owner of a new keyring, picture refrigerator magnet, and other photos in assorted sizes of people that I know.
After dinner we hopped the monorail and rode it around the rest of the loop. We always seem to do this after we eat at Chef Mickeys also. Once back at the Magic Kingdom we should have hopped back on the bus and went to bed. Instead, the kids talked us into going into the Magic Kingdom for just a couple of rides. MeMe was the smart one here and she left to go wash her hair. Its more of that hair thing I guess? I think she went through a can of hair spray everyday. I never saw a single hair move the entire trip. The rest of us went into the Magic Kingdom and headed straight for Haunted Mansion. Sissy just loves this ride and would stay on it continuously if they would let her. Dont know of another 5 year old girl who enjoys it so much. She looks forward to seeing which ghost will follow us home. We then hoped to catch Peter Pan but the standby line was quite lengthy, so we kept on trekking through Fantasyland. We managed to ride Snow White and then the park was about to close. So instead of beating the crowd and heading back with MeMe, here we were with every other person fighting our way out to an overcrowded bus. All this trouble for just two rides.and we need to be back here first thing in the morning. Why? Because tomorrow our princess must dine with Cinderella for breakfast.
Rawry: Thats me! 43
Mitchy Mama: My partner in Disney 39/40
Devo: The oldest son 16/17
JoJo: The middle child 13
Sissy: Her Highness 5
MeMe: Mother in Law ????
The tradition continues
Saturday, June 14th / Day 4
I know when we come down that we always take back more than we came with. But I wasnt prepared for this much stuff this soon. I do believe that we have hit every gift shop and store and bought something at each one. Somehow we manage to get everything in bags and call for Bell Service. This time it takes them two carts to carry all of our stuff down to the lobby. We work our way down and settle the bill. I really enjoyed my stay here and would do it again in a heartbeat. The entertainment rate and the Express Pass made it a very good deal in my opinion.
Sissy has insisted that she needs some breakfast meat this morning. My family loves it pork. Bacon, Sausage, and Ham. Pork Fat Rules to quote Emeril. We headed downstairs to the Sunset Grill for the breakfast buffet. Gotta love that fresh Florida orange juice. Told the waiter to hit me and keep em comin. Good selection, everything that was supposed to be hot was. We finished just about the time that our driver was to pick us up from YourRide. Driver was right on time and we bid farewell to Universal. This was the first time in 10 years that we had been here and was worth the few the days that we set aside to go again. I know I may be a Disney bigot because a lot of the time I was at Universal, I was comparing things to Disney. There was just something missing to me. It may have been everything that was on my mind, but I just wasnt into it yet. I was really excited to be heading to the World. Hopefully now I could get that contented and magical feeling that I was somehow expecting.
Arrived at the Swan around 10:30 and headed straight for check in. I had sent a note a couple of weeks before indicating everything that we were celebrating on the trip, my Starwood number, etc All I asked for was a room with a nice view as a special request. The gentleman said that one of our rooms was ready but the other wasnt. We told them to pile all of the luggage in the one room and we headed upstairs. We got rooms on the 10th floor that looked out the front of the building, dead center. Not the ones that look back at the dolphin, but the side where it looks out at MGM, EPCOT, waterway, and Boardwalk. Threw open the drapes and the view was spectacular. The beds looked almost too inviting and I could hardly wait to try them out tonight. The bellman unloaded our bags and he also volunteered to go and fill the cooler with ice. It was an offer that I just couldnt refuse.
We headed out to Epcot to spend a few hours. Devo and JoJo always seem to need to hit the gifts shop in England. They are both into tennis big time and like to see the latest sampling of Wimbledon wear. They both got new shirts and tennis balls before I knew what hit me. Next, we managed to snag a FastPass for Test Track and then took MeMe to Ice Station Cool. I love to watch people try Beverly for the first time, even if it is my mother in law. I just enjoy hanging back as people are trying the different sodas just waiting for them to fill their cup with the beloved Beverly. A good belly laugh can always be found. Did Ellens Energy and Spaceship Earth and then that meal battle started up again. I didnt want to eat anything big since we had a buffet planned for dinner. We wandered around aimlessly for awhile until we came across a hotdog cart close to Mexico. Grabbed a few of those foot longs, and found a couple benches in the shade. Not a glamorous meal but it sure hit the spot.
By this time it is time to head back to Test Track. This is one of Sissys favorite rides. Today however there seems to be a problem. We used our passes and make it through the line quickly. Once in the staging area though, we stand around for about 15 minutes waiting for the doors to open. I mean we are packed in here like sardines. It seems that today the air-conditioning isnt quite working either. So its hot and crowded and Im about ready to bail out until finally the doors open and we all shove our way into the pre-show. Everything went fine for awhile and at least it was cooler in here. We loaded into our cars and hit the road course. Then we get to the brake test area. For some reason our car brakes really hard about halfway down the roadway and then barely crawls forward until we almost hit the car in front of us. This all happened right before the heat chamber. Have you ever wondered what would happen if your car got stuck in there with the heat lights on? About ten minutes later the lights in the building come on and we get to look around. Its not near as exciting as seeing Space Mountain with the lights on. It pretty much looks the same as you would expect with the lights off. About five minutes later we take off again, but the voices over the speaker in the car dont quite match up with the ride anymore. When we got back to the boarding area I was hoping that they might send us through again, but no such luck. We then march over to see Figment. We really enjoyed this ride and the little song diddy is quite catchy. Kind of like Its a Small World. We kept catching ourselves singing it for the rest of the day. This ride now ranks at the top of Sissys must do list for Epcot.
At this point everyone was pretty pooped out. Went back to the hotel and Mitchy MaMa, Sissy and I headed to the pool. I lost track of how many times we went down the water slide. Last time we were here, you couldnt have paid her to go down the slide. Now, we cant get her to stop. Finally I convince Sissy that we have to leave if she is going to have dinner with Mickey. That really got those little feet a movin. We head back in and find that the other room is ready. MeMe and Sissy move all of their stuff in there and now we are at least able to walk through our room without tripping over a suitcase.
We hopped the bus for the Magic Kingdom and then walked to the Resort Monorail station. Short ride over to the Contemporary and guess what? Were early! Weve got about fifteen minutes to kill. I know. Lets hit the gift shops. After all, you cant have too many souvenirs. I think we only bought one or two things before it was time to go and check in. We got our picture taken with the giant plate and then went to sit down while we waited for our table. Donald Duck was in the lobby tonight and he was in a fowl mood. Sorry, I couldnt resist. We only waited a few minutes before they showed us to our table. Dinner went off without a hitch. No napkins flinging cocktail sauce over everyone like last time we were here. This dinner has come to be a tradition for us. We always (knock on wood) eat at Chef Mickeys our first night at Disney World. It just seems to put everyone in a good mood and gives the vacation a little kick start. Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale and Goofy were making the rounds tonight. During the meal they brought us copies of the pictures that they had taken earlier for our viewing and hopeful purchase. It was a dang good picture I thought. We decided to by the package until I started looking through the rest of the pictures. The top picture was of us, but some of these other pictures are of a different family. When the guy came back to find our decision about the pictures I told him I would only buy them if he could tell me who these other people were. I didnt mean to embarrass the guy, but he turned red, took our package, and muttered something about being right back. A couple of minutes later he returned and apologized and now we had all of the right pictures. So now Im the proud owner of a new keyring, picture refrigerator magnet, and other photos in assorted sizes of people that I know.
After dinner we hopped the monorail and rode it around the rest of the loop. We always seem to do this after we eat at Chef Mickeys also. Once back at the Magic Kingdom we should have hopped back on the bus and went to bed. Instead, the kids talked us into going into the Magic Kingdom for just a couple of rides. MeMe was the smart one here and she left to go wash her hair. Its more of that hair thing I guess? I think she went through a can of hair spray everyday. I never saw a single hair move the entire trip. The rest of us went into the Magic Kingdom and headed straight for Haunted Mansion. Sissy just loves this ride and would stay on it continuously if they would let her. Dont know of another 5 year old girl who enjoys it so much. She looks forward to seeing which ghost will follow us home. We then hoped to catch Peter Pan but the standby line was quite lengthy, so we kept on trekking through Fantasyland. We managed to ride Snow White and then the park was about to close. So instead of beating the crowd and heading back with MeMe, here we were with every other person fighting our way out to an overcrowded bus. All this trouble for just two rides.and we need to be back here first thing in the morning. Why? Because tomorrow our princess must dine with Cinderella for breakfast.
Bring on the hitchhiking ghosts!
enjoying the reports...keep them coming.
