Two Sky Pirates (and Friends) Take on WDW

[lilwhiterabbit]

My partner and myself, as well as two of our friends just returned from our trip on Friday, October 8th, and I'm already planning for next year. To tide me over, however, I'm compiling this trip report so I can remember all of the wonderful things that happened on our vacation. It really was perfect in almost every way!

To start, let me give you a quick link to my Zombie Pre-Trip Report, which was completed a few weeks before we left. You may notice some obvious differences between what was planned and what actually occurred.

First, however, let me introduce you to our colorful cast of characters:

Myself, a divorced mother of one, formerly an executive assistant, now a full time college student, lover of food, wine and all things Disney.

Nigel, my wonderful partner of two years, a graduate student and video game aficionado.

Mike, a friend of 12 years, a tech QA analyst with a quirky sense of humor and an all around swell guy.

Aldea, also a divorced mother of one, Mike's girlfriend, and the only person I've met who is shorter than me.

For those of you who followed the pre-trip report, you may notice we're missing a few people. We were fairly sure more than halfway through the planning process that Corey wasn't going to make the trip, but we were very surprised when Kate dropped out less than a week before we were scheduled to leave!

She cited money woes as the reason she was unable to go, which was sort of sad, since she'd been the one to help me plan the trip in the first place. Fortunately, her parents are planning on taking her on a family trip to WDW after the first of the year, so she'll only have to wait a few months longer.

With only the four of us going, it was pretty easy to coordinate everything before we left. Our dog/house sitter came by the morning of Sunday, October 3rd and all we had to do was wait for Mike and Aldea to arrive before heading down to Florida. ...Only they were a couple of hours late. See, Aldea had scheduled to drop her son off with her ex-husband earlier that morning (my ex also had my son, since this was an adults-only trip), but her ex had gotten his wires crossed, and wasn't actually there when they stopped by to drop him off. Cue Aldea frantically trying to get in touch with her ex and she and Mike killing two hours waiting for him to get home. Once he was finally there, Aldea kissed her son goodbye and booked it to where Nigel and I live. Fortunately, we hadn't left without them.

So, yes, we started out about two and a half hours later than we'd planned, but it ultimately didn't end up costing us much time, since I'd given us around nine hours to make it from Atlanta to Orlando (figuring in food and bathroom breaks). We made it in seven and a half--once I was the one driving. Thank goodness we didn't get any tickets.

We pulled up to our resort, Port Orleans French Quarter, around 10PM and hurried inside. Both Mike and I had elected to do online check-in, and the lobby was dead that time of night, so we were ready to go to our rooms in less than five minutes. It did take us a little while to find a bellhop, however, since bell services seemed to be understaffed and all the bellhops were currently busy. The wait was still pretty brief, though; barely more than ten minutes, and we were in our rooms in less than fifteen. We'd gotten courtyard view rooms in building 5, which was incredibly centrally located. We were practically on top of the pool and food court, and were a very short walk from both the bus stop and water taxi dock. Score!

After throwing our things into our rooms and freshening up a bit, we decided we weren't too tired to hit Downtown Disney and grab dinner. I'd made ADRs at Raglan Road, but it turns out we didn't need them (this was to be a theme for the rest of the trip, actually). When we got to Raglan Road, the place was practically deserted and we were one of only a handful of occupied tables in the whole place.

Our waiter was superb, and recommended the triple chocolate stout, which was fantastic. Nigel and I opted for their version of shepherd's pie, while Mike got their "Bangers and Booze" and Aldea had a flatbread pizza "for two" all to herself... which she couldn't finish, so Mike helped.

For dessert, Mike and Aldea opted to split the "Dunbrody's Kiss" (which Aldea described as the "chocolate-chocolate-chocolate"), while Nigel and I shared the bread and butter pudding with white chocolate and butterscotch sauce.

Oh. My. God. The bread pudding was amazing! Even with the Food and Wine Festival, even though Nigel and I had dinner at Jiko later during the trip, the bread pudding may have been the best thing we ate while we were down there. As long as it stays on the menu, I expect I'll be spending a lot of time at Raglan Road in the future.

After dinner, we took the bus back to the French Quarter and called it a night, since we all had to get up early to go to the Magic Kingdom the next morning. ...Well, at least Nigel and I did, anyway. Mike and Aldea decided to sleep in--something else which became a recurring theme throughout the trip!

 

[lilwhiterabbit]

Since the Disney cast members still ask what you're celebrating when you register for a trip, I thought it would be a good idea to mention what Nigel and I were celebrating while we were down there. See, the trip fell right on top of our two-year anniversary, so that was as good an excuse as any to go to WDW, as far as I was concerned.

Seriously, though, what I was most interested in was seeing the look on Nigel's face when he realized that Disney magic. I wanted him to experience the wonder of WDW like I do and make him understand why the place is special to me. Fortunately, this happened again and again during the trip, and I definitely think I made a Disney addict out of him.

But I digress....

For our first day, Nigel and I had planned to go to the Magic Kingdom. I'm normally the kind of person who makes rope drop, but decided I wasn't going to push it for Nigel's first trip since he was a child, and settled for getting there a little after park opening. Mike and Aldea begged to sleep in, so we didn't bother them and headed to the bus stop without even knocking on their door. We assumed we'd meet up with them at the Magic Kingdom later in the day... which totally didn't happen, but I'll get to that in a bit.

At any rate, shortly after arriving at the park, Nigel and I realized that our camera batteries hadn't charged, so we couldn't take pictures! I'd plugged the charger in overnight before I left home, and for some reason the charge didn't take. I wish I'd tested them the night before, in the hotel room, but I was so tired I didn't think about it. So, for the first day, we have very few pictures.

My general plan when in a park is to pick a destination once we get there, then go either clockwise or counter-clockwise around the park until we see everything. Since the trip was nominally for Nigel, I told him to pick, and he decided he wanted to begin in Adventureland. While we were walking up Main Street, a trolley full of cast members, pulled by a gorgeous Clydesdale, pulled up in front of us and stopped. The cast members then got out and performed a song and dance in the middle of Main Street, while people stopped and watched.

Oddly, I've been in the Magic Kingdom shortly after opening half a dozen times, and this was the first time I'd seen this particular "show". Nigel was delighted, and kept telling people he met about the trolley and dancers for the rest of the day. I think that moment really made him realize what set Disney apart from other vacations.

Once the brief show had ended, we cut across the walkway in front of the Crystal Palace and continued toward Adventureland. The first thing Nigel wanted to do when we got there was ride Pirates of the Caribbean, so we walked up to the entrance to speak to the cast member posted there.

One thing I haven't mentioned so far is that I have a couple of PITA illnesses, which can make walking, standing and endurance difficult. By far, the most frustrating one is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which can result in dislocations, sprains and even fractures if I'm not careful. It's also fairly painful, but I've lived with the pain a long time, so I've gotten pretty good at managing it (most of the time, at least). Thanks to the EDS, I also have fallen arches and Plantar Fasciitis, which can make standing for more than a few minutes excruciating. On top of that, I've been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and I'm severely asthmatic.

What does all this mean, you ask? Well, it means that I had to bring along a medical aid to deal with all the walking and standing in lines; a rollator. Using my rollator meant that I didn't have to be pushed around in a wheelchair or deal with the hassle of using a mobility scooter (I know those work well for some people, but I'm not one of them, thanks to hand and grip issues). It also meant that it was narrow enough to go down most normal queues, but that I still had to use the wheelchair entrance on some of the older rides or those with stairs.

Pirates was one of those rides I thought I'd be able to fit down, but every time I went, the cast member at the entrance insisted I use the wheelchair entry line. It didn't make much of a difference either way, however, as the wait was always less than ten minutes whenever we went.

So, Pirates. Pirates of the Caribbean is one of my favorite rides, and Nigel, who hadn't been to WDW since he was a kid, didn't remember going on it, so this was all new to him. He loved the Davy Jones mist effect at the beginning of the ride and was blown away by the huge pirate ship firing at the fort. Overall, it was just a really enjoyable experience for his first ride at the Magic Kingdom, and was an excellent precursor for things to come.