Ok, I know it's 2017, but I'm going to post a series of Disney World trip reports I created during my 2008 trip. Keep in mind that these were written almost 9 years ago, and there will be differences in the descriptions of some things that are either now updated or completely gone from WDW. So, without further ado, here we go.
EDIT: I'll be adding some audio and images to my posts, so you can see and hear what I was actually experiencing. These are all MY recordings using my IC recorder with a binaural microphone. I hope you like the recordings! If you want to hear and see ALL of the recordings I have made during my various trips to Disney over the last 30 years or so, please visit parkmagicradio.ca.
Day 1 - Traveling to Orlando
Today was quite a long day. After getting myself and Glenn up at 2:30 AM, we got ready to go. He's driving me to the airport. Amazingly, neither of us had any difficulty getting up! Glenn's phone alarm went off at 2:30, and about a minute later, my radio alarm came on, so with all that noise, it was fairly easy to get up. I had been almost wide awake at about 10 after 2. We both had a tea and left my place about 3:15. But I can tell you now, having been awake now since 2:30 AM this morning, it's now 9:32 PM eastern time and I'm completely bagged! I thought I better write this before I go to bed so I don't forget anything.
There's no traffic from my house to the airport at 4:00 AM! Check-in was good and fairly fast. Customs was a bit of a hassle. The US Customs guard kept me waiting and waiting, while he was busily typing stuff into my record. He then says, "You've got such a common name." I nodded. About a minute later he asks where I work and I tell him, and asks me where I was going. So I told him that too, so he stamps my passport and I was off again, this time through to Security. The alarm went off as I passed through! Turns out it was just my belt loop. The guard tells me he's going to put his finger in between the belt loop and the top of my pants, I guess to check for drugs or bombs or something.
Like I could fit anything in there! It's a long trip to gate E99! When I got there, I had a scone and a tea to keep me sated for a little while.
The airline trip from Vancouver to Seattle was a quick trip - in less than an hour, we were up and down. The next gate was practically right there, when I got off the plane, so I picked up a bottle of water and a couple of chocolate bars as snacks to eat on the airplane in case I got hungry. An hour later, we were boarding the plane and taxiing down to the runway!
The plane trip was nothing spectacular. It was pretty much like any other airline trip with that really annoying emergency procedures announcement and the usual minor turbulence. I was a bit hungry, so I bought their ham and cheese scrambled eggs with hashbrowns. I tell ya, for 5 bucks it wasn't worth it, but at least I wasn't hungry after I ate it, and I was thankful for that. I don't think I could have lasted another hour without any food. I forgot to have breakfast at home this morning!
When I got to MCO, I took the airport shuttle over to Baggage Claim B. Poor Jack Wagner's voice is no longer the voice that greets you as you take the shuttle over to the baggage claim area. I used my IC Recorder to record the voice, but the replacement voice just doesn't have the same flair as Jack's. You'll be able to hear it as soon as I post it. A Magical Express representative was at the bottom of the escalator ushering Disney Resort guests to take the elevator down to the first level. So I took the elevator down and was directed by another representative to the counter service area. Upon getting there, the service was really fast and friendly. The cast member asked me what hotel I was going to, so I handed her my vouchers. She then said, "Going to Port Orleans French Quarter, and being picked up on the 16th from the All Star Music Resort, correct?" NO! I had to explain that I was being picked up on the 16th from Coronado Springs! She looked at me kind of puzzled and reiterated that they were picking me up from All Star Music. Again, I corrected her, so she had to get a supervisor to look at the reservation. He came over and said, "We're picking you up from All Star Music on the 16th." Again I said, that was incorrect and am supposed to be coming back from Coronado Springs. He then asked if All Star Music had at any time been on my itinerary at any time, and I politely said no. He then changed my reservation for pick up to Coronado Springs and I was on my way. They then direct you to the "red carpet" area where you again get ushered to the bus loading area. Don't forget to keep your Express ticket handy, because when I was told to take a certain bus, I just proceeded to get onto the bs, and then I hear, "Excuse me sir, excuse me!" coming from behind. I then turn around and one of the cast members asks me for my voucher. So I show it to him and he looks at it for a minute and says, "Have a nice trip". I think what they're all actually doing here is scanning the bar codes that are on the voucher, just to ensure that you are who you say you are and that you're going where you're supposed to be going. No big deal. Only two minor setbacks to deal with upon arrival.
Ambient Airline Landing at MCO - Press the 'Play' icon next to 'Action'
MCO Shuttle to Main Terminal - Press the 'Play' icon next to 'Action'
The bus ride was quite nice. The video that you see on the bus on the way to your hotel is almost the same one I have a video of. The only exceptions were the new name for Disney-MGM Studios (to Disney's Hollywood Studios) and a few other minor things. It's all fed to the bus by a GPS, so depending on where you are on the road the video will start and stop by itself. Cool, eh?
Upon arrival at the hotel about 25 minutes later, I was the only one getting off a bus full of about 8 people in total. I got off the bus and the driver, I noticed, was sort of hanging around waiting for a tip. If I am paying this much for my trip and the bus service is free, and they get paid by the Disney company, I don't really feel like I should tip him. In the book I have, it says tipping is acceptable only if you receive "exceptional" service. Taking a bus ride isn't really an exceptional service. Maybe I'm just getting cheap in my old age... If any of you disagree with me, let me know if I should have tipped! Also, aren't the tips divided up between all cast members who do a similar job? So I get to the hotel, and it's raining cats and dogs, and there's a little bit of thunder and lightning. But I loved it! There were people wandering around with those cheap rain covers. I didn't mind the rain at all; as a matter of fact, I thought it was quite refreshing.
When I arrived at the counter, there was a problem because they thought that I only had the Magic Your Way Park Hopper pass with no dining option, yet clearly it states on my itinerary from Marlin that I have a 10-day dining option included. So the CM excuses herself to go check this out and she takes my itinerary in the back room with her and appears a couple of times in about 15 minutes and says, "Sorry about the wait, it won't be long now." I was totally OK with this and I knew everything would be OK as long as I had proof that was what I purchased. So everything worked out in the end, and I got all of my information about the resort and where everything is. I got room 2147, about a 2 minute walk, if that, from the reception and check in area! The resort itself isn't huge, like the Coronado Springs resort, but the Port Orleans Riverside shares some of the amenities, so that makes it a bit larger and more interesting!
I put my knapsack and laptop in the room, and went for a walk around the grounds. While I was walking around, I saw a couple of huge flashes of lightning and heard some pretty loud thunder! They closed the pool because of the lightning and ushered everyone off the pool deck. I guess they do that for the safety of the guests and lifeguard cast members so they don't get struck by lightning being near water and out in the open.
While wandering around, I went to the gift shop and in one corner of the shop they had an easel board set up with some trivia questions on it, and there was a woman standing beside me and she said that out of all 10 questions on the board, she knew all of them except one, and I said I also knew all of them except one, but after guessing I got it right. The question was where would you see a mansion much like the Haunted Mansion elsewhere in the country (or something like that)? It was a multiple choice question and I picked "B" and the woman picked "A" and both were right! That is because you would see some in California and I guessed the real right one, option "B" but now I forget what the answer was. Oh well. After going through all 10 questions, the CM working in the gift shop heard us and proceeded to ask more trivia questions - about 40 in all, and the woman and I took turns at answering them, and yelling the answers out if we knew what they were. When the CM was done asking questions, she and I received a "Magical Moments" certificate!!! It's a magical moment that I will always remember, and it's worth framing!
I then went for dinner over to the hotel restaurant and had chicken parmesean with linguini and a side salad. Amazingly, it wasn't that bad! But now I'm stuffed!
So now I'm back in my room where my luggage has arrived while I was out answering trivia questions and I've unpacked my shirts and put some stuff in the drawers, and I'm writing this and watching "Family Guy" until I'm ready to crash. I need sleep!
More tomorrow!
EDIT: I'll be adding some audio and images to my posts, so you can see and hear what I was actually experiencing. These are all MY recordings using my IC recorder with a binaural microphone. I hope you like the recordings! If you want to hear and see ALL of the recordings I have made during my various trips to Disney over the last 30 years or so, please visit parkmagicradio.ca.
Day 1 - Traveling to Orlando
Today was quite a long day. After getting myself and Glenn up at 2:30 AM, we got ready to go. He's driving me to the airport. Amazingly, neither of us had any difficulty getting up! Glenn's phone alarm went off at 2:30, and about a minute later, my radio alarm came on, so with all that noise, it was fairly easy to get up. I had been almost wide awake at about 10 after 2. We both had a tea and left my place about 3:15. But I can tell you now, having been awake now since 2:30 AM this morning, it's now 9:32 PM eastern time and I'm completely bagged! I thought I better write this before I go to bed so I don't forget anything.
There's no traffic from my house to the airport at 4:00 AM! Check-in was good and fairly fast. Customs was a bit of a hassle. The US Customs guard kept me waiting and waiting, while he was busily typing stuff into my record. He then says, "You've got such a common name." I nodded. About a minute later he asks where I work and I tell him, and asks me where I was going. So I told him that too, so he stamps my passport and I was off again, this time through to Security. The alarm went off as I passed through! Turns out it was just my belt loop. The guard tells me he's going to put his finger in between the belt loop and the top of my pants, I guess to check for drugs or bombs or something.
Like I could fit anything in there! It's a long trip to gate E99! When I got there, I had a scone and a tea to keep me sated for a little while.The airline trip from Vancouver to Seattle was a quick trip - in less than an hour, we were up and down. The next gate was practically right there, when I got off the plane, so I picked up a bottle of water and a couple of chocolate bars as snacks to eat on the airplane in case I got hungry. An hour later, we were boarding the plane and taxiing down to the runway!
The plane trip was nothing spectacular. It was pretty much like any other airline trip with that really annoying emergency procedures announcement and the usual minor turbulence. I was a bit hungry, so I bought their ham and cheese scrambled eggs with hashbrowns. I tell ya, for 5 bucks it wasn't worth it, but at least I wasn't hungry after I ate it, and I was thankful for that. I don't think I could have lasted another hour without any food. I forgot to have breakfast at home this morning!
When I got to MCO, I took the airport shuttle over to Baggage Claim B. Poor Jack Wagner's voice is no longer the voice that greets you as you take the shuttle over to the baggage claim area. I used my IC Recorder to record the voice, but the replacement voice just doesn't have the same flair as Jack's. You'll be able to hear it as soon as I post it. A Magical Express representative was at the bottom of the escalator ushering Disney Resort guests to take the elevator down to the first level. So I took the elevator down and was directed by another representative to the counter service area. Upon getting there, the service was really fast and friendly. The cast member asked me what hotel I was going to, so I handed her my vouchers. She then said, "Going to Port Orleans French Quarter, and being picked up on the 16th from the All Star Music Resort, correct?" NO! I had to explain that I was being picked up on the 16th from Coronado Springs! She looked at me kind of puzzled and reiterated that they were picking me up from All Star Music. Again, I corrected her, so she had to get a supervisor to look at the reservation. He came over and said, "We're picking you up from All Star Music on the 16th." Again I said, that was incorrect and am supposed to be coming back from Coronado Springs. He then asked if All Star Music had at any time been on my itinerary at any time, and I politely said no. He then changed my reservation for pick up to Coronado Springs and I was on my way. They then direct you to the "red carpet" area where you again get ushered to the bus loading area. Don't forget to keep your Express ticket handy, because when I was told to take a certain bus, I just proceeded to get onto the bs, and then I hear, "Excuse me sir, excuse me!" coming from behind. I then turn around and one of the cast members asks me for my voucher. So I show it to him and he looks at it for a minute and says, "Have a nice trip". I think what they're all actually doing here is scanning the bar codes that are on the voucher, just to ensure that you are who you say you are and that you're going where you're supposed to be going. No big deal. Only two minor setbacks to deal with upon arrival.
Ambient Airline Landing at MCO - Press the 'Play' icon next to 'Action'
MCO Shuttle to Main Terminal - Press the 'Play' icon next to 'Action'
The bus ride was quite nice. The video that you see on the bus on the way to your hotel is almost the same one I have a video of. The only exceptions were the new name for Disney-MGM Studios (to Disney's Hollywood Studios) and a few other minor things. It's all fed to the bus by a GPS, so depending on where you are on the road the video will start and stop by itself. Cool, eh?
Upon arrival at the hotel about 25 minutes later, I was the only one getting off a bus full of about 8 people in total. I got off the bus and the driver, I noticed, was sort of hanging around waiting for a tip. If I am paying this much for my trip and the bus service is free, and they get paid by the Disney company, I don't really feel like I should tip him. In the book I have, it says tipping is acceptable only if you receive "exceptional" service. Taking a bus ride isn't really an exceptional service. Maybe I'm just getting cheap in my old age... If any of you disagree with me, let me know if I should have tipped! Also, aren't the tips divided up between all cast members who do a similar job? So I get to the hotel, and it's raining cats and dogs, and there's a little bit of thunder and lightning. But I loved it! There were people wandering around with those cheap rain covers. I didn't mind the rain at all; as a matter of fact, I thought it was quite refreshing.
When I arrived at the counter, there was a problem because they thought that I only had the Magic Your Way Park Hopper pass with no dining option, yet clearly it states on my itinerary from Marlin that I have a 10-day dining option included. So the CM excuses herself to go check this out and she takes my itinerary in the back room with her and appears a couple of times in about 15 minutes and says, "Sorry about the wait, it won't be long now." I was totally OK with this and I knew everything would be OK as long as I had proof that was what I purchased. So everything worked out in the end, and I got all of my information about the resort and where everything is. I got room 2147, about a 2 minute walk, if that, from the reception and check in area! The resort itself isn't huge, like the Coronado Springs resort, but the Port Orleans Riverside shares some of the amenities, so that makes it a bit larger and more interesting!
I put my knapsack and laptop in the room, and went for a walk around the grounds. While I was walking around, I saw a couple of huge flashes of lightning and heard some pretty loud thunder! They closed the pool because of the lightning and ushered everyone off the pool deck. I guess they do that for the safety of the guests and lifeguard cast members so they don't get struck by lightning being near water and out in the open.
While wandering around, I went to the gift shop and in one corner of the shop they had an easel board set up with some trivia questions on it, and there was a woman standing beside me and she said that out of all 10 questions on the board, she knew all of them except one, and I said I also knew all of them except one, but after guessing I got it right. The question was where would you see a mansion much like the Haunted Mansion elsewhere in the country (or something like that)? It was a multiple choice question and I picked "B" and the woman picked "A" and both were right! That is because you would see some in California and I guessed the real right one, option "B" but now I forget what the answer was. Oh well. After going through all 10 questions, the CM working in the gift shop heard us and proceeded to ask more trivia questions - about 40 in all, and the woman and I took turns at answering them, and yelling the answers out if we knew what they were. When the CM was done asking questions, she and I received a "Magical Moments" certificate!!! It's a magical moment that I will always remember, and it's worth framing!
I then went for dinner over to the hotel restaurant and had chicken parmesean with linguini and a side salad. Amazingly, it wasn't that bad! But now I'm stuffed!
So now I'm back in my room where my luggage has arrived while I was out answering trivia questions and I've unpacked my shirts and put some stuff in the drawers, and I'm writing this and watching "Family Guy" until I'm ready to crash. I need sleep!
More tomorrow!
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