MEK
DIS Legend
- Joined
- May 8, 2005
- Messages
- 20,088
When ? Monday August 29, 2005 - Monday September 5, 2005
Cast:
Me - Very, tired working mom
DH - Likes Disney but will never admit it
DS 10
DS 12
DS 10
The whole time I was in Disney I kept thinking about what I would say in my trip report. I counted how many times I did each ride so I could report back in exacting detail. Now that five weeks have passed since my trip, I can hardly recall anything. So I will do my best.
Preplanning -
I knew I wanted to go back to Disney this year. The idea started formulating in my mind back in April. It was that same week that my family and I were skiing in Keystone, Colorado. Why would I start planning a vacation while I was on vacation????? Because the best way to prevent the post vacation blues is to plan the next one.
Three weeks later I found my airfare. I searched every morning and night until I found $122/person Philadelphia to MCO. Right before I booked, I said to my husband - Do you think the kids will care that we're getting home at 9:15pm when they need to start school the next day? Me neither!
With airfare booked and paid for, the next part was easy. Where to stay? Since I had stayed at POR my last trip, I had my heart set on CSR. I booked through AAA and my agent said only a water view was available there at AAA rates. I said -No - I rather put that $ towards a rental car. So I settled on CBR.
Before spring soccer season even ended, I got the email code for the free dining. I called my AAA agent to change my package. No problem. By mid June all my PS were arranged. All I had to do was wait. It was easy after I joined Dis. I logged on almost every night and read absolutely everything I could find. Thanks Dis'ers, I learned a lot.
The Big Day - August 29, 2005
While Katrina was ravaging New Orleans, I was trying sleep the night before my trip. I kept waking up. At 3am I decided - enough! I got up and finished my last minute packing. I fed my cats one last time, cleaned their litter boxes, and made sure all there feeding supplies were ready for my neighbor. My kids got up without any problem. By 5:20am we will all on our way to the airport. We had our car parked by 6am and we were to curbside check in by 6:15. We got through security very easily and headed to our gait. DH and DS's went to find food. I looked around at all the other people obviously waiting to go to WDW or other parts Orlando. Lot's of kids. Wow - I really hoped it wouldn't be too crowded.
Our flight was uneventful. We were in Orlando by 10:10am. By 11am we were at Thrifty rental getting our car. We were orignially booked for ME, but decided to rent from the airport. We had a mid stay side trip planned for Daytona and would need a car then. I was a little leary about going off airport for a car rental, but it worked out great. Very efficient and no lines at checkin. By 1145 we were checking in at CBR. We pulled up right after the ME bus. No problem. Before all those dazed people were even standing up straight, I was through the front door and in line.
It took me all of 5 minutes to check in. When the CM asked me if I needed a parking permit I knew I would not have the best room location. I was in Barbados. (Rm 1109 I think). I was literally 10 steps from my car. We quickly unloaded the car. The room was a nice large corner room. Before we went to the parks, I wanted to find our small pool. I was a little disappointed when I started to walk via some long, convaluted path. I thought I would never find the pool. Once I found a much shorter route, I was a lot happier.
So off we went to Epcot. WE drove and use our AAA parking permit to put us up front. We were probably in the park by 1220 - 1230. Our first stop was for fast passes for Soarin. I read so many reports about Soarin running out of fast passes that I was not going to let that happen. After getting our fast passes we went to lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Here is where I had a small meltdown. I left my resort card at the fast pass machine. Too many hands - One son putting the cards in, one son getting FP's. One lost card. My husband went back and found it for me. Crisis averted. Phew!
After lunch we went on TT single rider line. The wait was 10 minutes at most. After that we went to SE. My kids loves this ride. When we came off that ride, we went over to MS. Now as much as I hate to admit this, over the summer I developed a real phobia about this ride. As far as I'm concerned, there is bad karma on any ride where someone has died. I was quite nervous about this ride, even though I loved it 2 years ago. I think I hyperventilated myself into almost passing out. My fingers were a tingling and I really felt like I was going to pass out once. I was glad to be off the ride. I literally had to sit on one of the benches to get myself together. I don't think there was anything wrong with me, just a bad case of nerves. Nevertheless, I did not ride MS during the rest of my stay.
After MS we went to Honey I Shrunk the Kids. When that was over, it was time to walk over to Soarin. Wow - how did three hours go so fast????? Soarin was a lot of fun. We used our FP's and got more for later that evening. After Soarin we decided to go back to the hotel for a swim and then go back to Epcot after dinner.
The CBR small pool was great. I'm not sure how much time we spent at the pool, but we got back to Epcot just in time for our 7pm PS at San Angel Inn. We got seated around 7:20pm and had a great dinner. After dinner DS 10 made 2 unexpected trips to the bathroom (all that rich food). When he was done we hoofed over to Epcot and managed to get on Soarin right before it closed for the night. When we got off, the fireworks were already done and people were leaving the park. When we got home we watched a little news, but didn't really learn too much about the hurricane damage that night.
All in all, a good first day. That is the first time I ever went to a park on my arrival day. The weather was hot, sunny, and humid with a late afternoon thunder storm. The crowds were very light. We didn't even need FP for our second Soarin ride.
Next up.....MK and Ohana's
__________________________________
Max is my favorite cat!
aw:
Cast:
Me - Very, tired working mom
DH - Likes Disney but will never admit it
DS 10
DS 12
DS 10
The whole time I was in Disney I kept thinking about what I would say in my trip report. I counted how many times I did each ride so I could report back in exacting detail. Now that five weeks have passed since my trip, I can hardly recall anything. So I will do my best.
Preplanning -
I knew I wanted to go back to Disney this year. The idea started formulating in my mind back in April. It was that same week that my family and I were skiing in Keystone, Colorado. Why would I start planning a vacation while I was on vacation????? Because the best way to prevent the post vacation blues is to plan the next one.
Three weeks later I found my airfare. I searched every morning and night until I found $122/person Philadelphia to MCO. Right before I booked, I said to my husband - Do you think the kids will care that we're getting home at 9:15pm when they need to start school the next day? Me neither!
With airfare booked and paid for, the next part was easy. Where to stay? Since I had stayed at POR my last trip, I had my heart set on CSR. I booked through AAA and my agent said only a water view was available there at AAA rates. I said -No - I rather put that $ towards a rental car. So I settled on CBR.
Before spring soccer season even ended, I got the email code for the free dining. I called my AAA agent to change my package. No problem. By mid June all my PS were arranged. All I had to do was wait. It was easy after I joined Dis. I logged on almost every night and read absolutely everything I could find. Thanks Dis'ers, I learned a lot.
The Big Day - August 29, 2005
While Katrina was ravaging New Orleans, I was trying sleep the night before my trip. I kept waking up. At 3am I decided - enough! I got up and finished my last minute packing. I fed my cats one last time, cleaned their litter boxes, and made sure all there feeding supplies were ready for my neighbor. My kids got up without any problem. By 5:20am we will all on our way to the airport. We had our car parked by 6am and we were to curbside check in by 6:15. We got through security very easily and headed to our gait. DH and DS's went to find food. I looked around at all the other people obviously waiting to go to WDW or other parts Orlando. Lot's of kids. Wow - I really hoped it wouldn't be too crowded.
Our flight was uneventful. We were in Orlando by 10:10am. By 11am we were at Thrifty rental getting our car. We were orignially booked for ME, but decided to rent from the airport. We had a mid stay side trip planned for Daytona and would need a car then. I was a little leary about going off airport for a car rental, but it worked out great. Very efficient and no lines at checkin. By 1145 we were checking in at CBR. We pulled up right after the ME bus. No problem. Before all those dazed people were even standing up straight, I was through the front door and in line.
It took me all of 5 minutes to check in. When the CM asked me if I needed a parking permit I knew I would not have the best room location. I was in Barbados. (Rm 1109 I think). I was literally 10 steps from my car. We quickly unloaded the car. The room was a nice large corner room. Before we went to the parks, I wanted to find our small pool. I was a little disappointed when I started to walk via some long, convaluted path. I thought I would never find the pool. Once I found a much shorter route, I was a lot happier.
So off we went to Epcot. WE drove and use our AAA parking permit to put us up front. We were probably in the park by 1220 - 1230. Our first stop was for fast passes for Soarin. I read so many reports about Soarin running out of fast passes that I was not going to let that happen. After getting our fast passes we went to lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Here is where I had a small meltdown. I left my resort card at the fast pass machine. Too many hands - One son putting the cards in, one son getting FP's. One lost card. My husband went back and found it for me. Crisis averted. Phew!
After lunch we went on TT single rider line. The wait was 10 minutes at most. After that we went to SE. My kids loves this ride. When we came off that ride, we went over to MS. Now as much as I hate to admit this, over the summer I developed a real phobia about this ride. As far as I'm concerned, there is bad karma on any ride where someone has died. I was quite nervous about this ride, even though I loved it 2 years ago. I think I hyperventilated myself into almost passing out. My fingers were a tingling and I really felt like I was going to pass out once. I was glad to be off the ride. I literally had to sit on one of the benches to get myself together. I don't think there was anything wrong with me, just a bad case of nerves. Nevertheless, I did not ride MS during the rest of my stay.
After MS we went to Honey I Shrunk the Kids. When that was over, it was time to walk over to Soarin. Wow - how did three hours go so fast????? Soarin was a lot of fun. We used our FP's and got more for later that evening. After Soarin we decided to go back to the hotel for a swim and then go back to Epcot after dinner.
The CBR small pool was great. I'm not sure how much time we spent at the pool, but we got back to Epcot just in time for our 7pm PS at San Angel Inn. We got seated around 7:20pm and had a great dinner. After dinner DS 10 made 2 unexpected trips to the bathroom (all that rich food). When he was done we hoofed over to Epcot and managed to get on Soarin right before it closed for the night. When we got off, the fireworks were already done and people were leaving the park. When we got home we watched a little news, but didn't really learn too much about the hurricane damage that night.
All in all, a good first day. That is the first time I ever went to a park on my arrival day. The weather was hot, sunny, and humid with a late afternoon thunder storm. The crowds were very light. We didn't even need FP for our second Soarin ride.
Next up.....MK and Ohana's
__________________________________
Max is my favorite cat!
aw:
