Went to the World, came back to real world. First ever TR!

[swisely]

Hello fellow dissers! Well, I am actually a lurker. I know, I know, but after a little Disney magic, I hope to be a certified disser myself. Thanks to all of you who shared your trips, food and your every thought with us on the dis. I certainly learned a lot from all of you, and I have to say we got a lot more done, had better food and a much easier time because of all the endless hours I spent on the dis. You guys did not steer me wrong! You rock! We spent August 2-8 in Disney at POR. We enjoyed our stay there, it was very nice. We have already decided we will be returning to WDW in February 2011! Gotta have time to save up! Please forgive me if my TR isn't as detailed as most of yours. First timer here. Also, and I hate to mention this, but there is...............no food porn. I am sorry. But next time I promise you I will have food pics for you. Anyway, on with the show. Here is the cast:

Me--Brainstormer and master-planner of this trip--the one who had the idea to go in the first place, and the one whose butt has gotten bigger by sitting in front of the computer so long pouring over the disboards! Wife, and mother of an 8-year-old son.

DH--Hubby, father of our son. Was ok with going to WDW, but now that he has been, is ready to return!! He has already spied where he wants to stay next time. More on that later.

DS(8)--Loves to travel and always has a good time on vacation. Has been content with Branson, MO and the beach. Had no idea what was in store for him at WDW, and fell in love with it. Now I'm not sure anything else will ever live up to it. It won't for me, so why should I expect it to for him? Although he is only 8 (he actually turned 8 the day after we came home), it seems he is growing up too fast. He has wanted a skateboard since he was 5. Please. He will hardly hug me in public or hold my hand, etc. Sniff, sniff. Will Disney cure him of this??

DSIS--My sister, (four years older than me as I like to remind her) and lover of Disney. Actually, she and I went to WDW 21 years ago. There was only Magic Kingdom and Epcot then. Boy have things changed! She gets more excited than most children when the characters are around.

DSIL--My sister-in-law. Love her like a sister! She and my sis made this trip so much fun, and they are both on board to go again!

I forgot to mention that my son is the only granchild on both sides. I know what you are thinking. And it is true to some extent. But considering, he is a pretty good kid. That is, when his aunties aren't spoiling him rotten! He really is fun to vacation with and kept us all laughing.

Here is a picture of all of us eating lunch at 50's Primetime Cafe:

We were on the dining plan and I would highly recommend it. The only negative is that, although I love dinner out, I would probably make more lunch ADRs than dinner next time, simply because of being on a schedule and all. You get lunch knocked out of the way and then you have the rest of the day. From left to right, DH, Me, DS, DSIL, DSIS.

 

[swisely]

Ok, messed up this post!

 

[swisely]

OK guys, so I think I might have this posting thing down now. Anyway, since I am getting ready for work, I will have to continue the trip report later tonight.

 

[swisely]

OK, so here we go. We left Saturday, August 1st headed to Memphis from here in central Arkansas. Checked into the hotel and we were on a mission: Joe's Crab Shack. We don't have one here so whenever we find one, we try to go. And I love crab legs! Her I am well into the "Big Daddy Bucket".

And my sis after her shrimp fest.

And us with full bellies, excited to leave in the morning!

 

[swisely]

So, we leave out ouf Memphis th next morning at 8:40 and arrive in Orlando 2 hours later--can't beat that! We left the plane and headed to the fake monorail and then to catch the Magic Express. That was easy breezy. Got to our hotel, POR by 1:00 and I headed for the online check-in counter. Thanks to the dis I did this before we left home. Our package was ready and waiting for us and our room was ready. There was a birthday button for DS and anniversary buttons for me and DH. And yes, we wore them all week. Also, garden grocer had called my cell and left a message that our drinks and breakfast bars, etc. were at the hotel waiting. All we had to do is call bell services and they brought it right over. Things are going great! Now we are ready to head to Downtown Disney for some lunch at EOS.

We took the ferry over to DTD from POR.

 

[swisely]

We arrived at DTD and headed straight for EOS. I had the Earl's Club, which was just ok. DH had the Full Montagu and he loved it. DS had the kid's grilled cheese and loved it, which is something because he is pretty picky. DSIS had the Original and though it was really good, and DSIL had the Chinese Chicken Salad and had some stomach issues for awhile afterwards. I think we all got choc. chip cookies for dessert. i would like to try WPE next time because it gets so many good reviews. Next, we did a little shopping at the toy store (can't remember the name), World of Disney and Christmas store to name a few.

We looked around at some of the amazing sites, like the things made out of Legos.

 

[swisely]

We then headed back to the hotel to freshen up a bit and head to MK for EMHs. On the ferry back to POR, the captain saw DS's birthday button and gave him a captain's hat and said, "Happy Birthday Buddy". He thought he had struck gold!

 

[swisely]

Up next, we head to MK for EMHs and get a lot done. I wil ltry and post later tonight!

 

[swisely]

I forgot to show you what was waiting for us when we arrived in our hotel room--see, I will eventually get the hang of this!

 

[celeste.]

great TR so far!
looking forward to more! :]

 

[SunnieRN]

Great beginning!! What a fun group you all look like!! Looking forward to more fun and adventures!!

 

[Stephanie VanMeter]

Great report so far! I totally agree with you that once you go to WDW there is no place that compares. We have now been 7 years in a row and every year it is something new. We still often visit the beach but Gatlinburg is certainly off the list. I think for the money nothing comes close to WDW. Keep up the report coming!!!!

 

[swisely]

So when I left off, we were headed back to the hotel to freshen up before leaving for MK. EMHs lasted 'til 2 a.m.!!! So, we did freshen up a bit and headed to the bus stop, which wasn't that far from our room. And I have to say that we never waited that long for a bus. Most of the time, only 10-15 minutes tops. Quite a few times just about 5 minutes. Having said that, we thought that next time it would be great if we could stay at the Beach Club or Yacht Club, for convenience purposes only. You can walk to Epcot, take a boat to HS, a monorail from Epcot to MK. The only bus you have to depend on is for AK, or of course water parks, and I'm not sure about DTD. It just seemed a little more convenient to us. Now, that will all depend on if we get a good rate, but they are constantly running some kind of specials, whether it is room price, dining, or buy 4 get 3 free. So, I am keeping my eyes on it and will wait and see for February 2011! Anyhoo, so we are headed to MK because I just cannot stand the thoughts of being at WDW and not seeing the castle on day 1. Plus, I really wanted DS to see it. I have to say that MK is my favorite park. I love them all, but I am just partial to MK--it IS Disney, you know? So we arrive and there it is!

Now, my son is not a thrill seeker. But I had hopes that he would be a little daring. However, I am not one of those parents who would ever try and push him onto something he doesn't want to do, unless it is so incredibly tame that I know he is going to love it. So, a few months before our trip, I went to You Tube and looked up Disney World rides and came across a lot that people have taken while on the ride. So, I showed him some of these and he got really excited and said he wanted to ride BTMRR, Test Track, Soarin', Kali River rapids, Dinosaur, etc. Well, BTMRR is not scary to me, and it has been a while (21 years) since I had ridden it. And the video seemed really tame. But I thought, we won't let him ride it first thing, or it might scare him off, so just in case, we will ride other things first and let him work his way toward it. OK, so we get there and my DSIS favorite ride is BTMRR. So, we go and get FPs and the return time is only about an hour. So, we walked around trying to make our way to HM because I knew DS would love it. He is into scary/spooky things like that. On the way, we saw some of Spectro Magic.

Then we headed to HM and walked right on! Well, DS was a little apprehensive at first, I think because he didn't know what to expect. He rode between DH and myself. Well, he loved it so much that we had to ride it again later that night. (And later in the trip several times). But it was time for our FPs and I kept asking DS are you sure you want to ride it, you don't have to. He was sooooooo excited about it that I really thought everything was going to be OK. Well, poor thing, we started going and when the train kicked into high gear, he was really scared and started crying. I felt horrible. I just kept trying to say "put your hands up , wee!" But nothing was working, he just wanted off. It seemed like a really long ride that night. Finally, it stopped and he said he never wanted to ride it again. I felt really bad because I had said I didn't want him to ride it first thing, and then I let him. Oh, well. So we headed to POC, thinking that was a tame one and he loved the movie so much, that it would be great. Well, he kept asking if it had any hills or anything fast in it and I kept saying no. We walked right on it as well--I was amazed at how we were able to walk right on these rides--in August! Anyway, when we got on the boat I remembered a tiny hill and I told him there was a very small hill, and he nearly freaked out. When we came to it, he was actually scared! And I know had we ridden it before BTMRR, he would have loved it. It was just fresh on his mind and he was scared of something else going too fast on him. So, from there we went on the Jungle Cruise, which he loved!!! Whew! He did get a little braver as the week went on, but I blame myself for letting him ride that too soon. He still probably would not have liked it, but at least he wouldn't have been so scared about others. And I wanted him to trust me because I kept telling him that I would tell him if I thought something was too much for him. Live and learn.
Next, we headed to ride Peter Pan--I thought that is the best of all the Fantasy Land rides. And DS LOVED it, he liked how it was like flying. Here he is on IASW.

And a few more castle/night shots.

Nest, we head back to ride HM again, and something really funny happens involving my DSIS, and it is one of DS favorite moments of the trip!

 

[swisely]

great TR so far!
looking forward to more! :]

Welcome!

 

[swisely]

Great beginning!! What a fun group you all look like!! Looking forward to more fun and adventures!!

Thanks, I think we are pretty fun!

 

[swisely]

Great report so far! I totally agree with you that once you go to WDW there is no place that compares. We have now been 7 years in a row and every year it is something new. We still often visit the beach but Gatlinburg is certainly off the list. I think for the money nothing comes close to WDW. Keep up the report coming!!!!

Thanks! Yes, and hopefully we will become veteran Disney travelers like yourself!

 

[swisely]

So, I should mention that before we hit Fantasy Land, we ate dinner at Pecos Bill's. And thanks to you dissers, it was a good choice. The burgers were awesome!!! I never thought a counter service restaurant in WDW would have such great burgers, which is what we all got, but they were really good. Even DS who is a chicken nugget kind of kid liked his. We even ate there a second time during the week.

Now, when I left off, we were going back to HM. Well, you know when you first walk in there is usually an employee dressed in funeral attire at the door, standing there looking kind of dead? Well, there was a guy and he looked really fake==ashen colored skin, no expression on his face. Well, my silly DSIS reached over and poked him on the shoulder, thinking it was a dummy. When she did, he lifted up his arm and she jumped and kind of screamed. Everyone that was around laughed and DS thought that was funny. Well, next you go into the stretching room and they close you in. Well, the guy had followed us in there and was just staring at my DSIS, with no expression whatsoever on his face. Then, when the lights went out and came back on, he was standing right next to my DSIS, and she turned her head and saw him and let out a blood curling scream! Everyone was just dying laughing, especially my DS. He absolutely loved it! Anytime his aunties get embarrassed, he thinks that is the funniest thing ever. And the guy never cracked a smile or anything--he stayed in character the whole time. It was great. DS talked about that the whole trip, especially every time after that when we were about to ride it again--and again, and again!

DS was into trying on hats this trip. Here he is after POC.

We called it a night at about 1 a.m. We were so tired from being up so early that morning and flying out. We left the park and went to the bus stop to head back to POR. BTW, I noticed that the bus stop at nearly, if not all the parks, for POR was at the end of the bus stations with the LONGEST walk of any other resort. And we had feet issues. But we trudged on, oh well. Next, day 2 takes us to AK. Is Expedition Everest in the forecast for us?

 

[swisely]

OK, I'm back. When we left off, we ended day 1 around 1 a.m. Now were up and ready for AK. So, we got to the park right about opening time, and we went to the fast pass machines, located at one spot near the tree of life. I had read about it here on the dis before we left, and what a great idea it is!!! Got our FPs for Everest and walked right on It's Tough to be a Bug. That was too cute!

DSIL had to kiss a primate along the way!

We wandered around a bit and found Dinosaur, the ride. DS had said he wanted to ride this, and I admit I didn't know too much about it, but he has always liked dinosaurs and since they weren't real, I thought he would be fine. Well, he hated it. I think after BTMRR, he was just afraid the vehicle was going to go wild. It is rough, but there aren't any drops or anything. But I have to say, he is a real trooper for trying it and although he didn't like it, he didn't blame me, and that's always a bonus! Here we are at the ride.

Afterwards, we ate lunch at Pizzafari. I really wanted to try Flametree BBQ, but my DH is not much of a BBQ fan. I know, we live in the south and he doesn't like BBQ! Pizzafari was pretty good, better than I thought it would be. My DSIS and I had the pepperoni pizza, and we both thought it wasn't bad. She had the choc. cake, me the applie pie, both were good. My DH and DSIL both had the Hot Italian Sand. with chips. They both liked it. Again, DSIL had choc. cake, DH apple pie. DS had the kid's cheese pizza and choc. chip cookie. Everyone was full and happy.

Then it was time to head to EE. We made our way to Asia and what the??? EE was closed down due to a mechanical problem. Bummer. Soooooooooo, we headed to the Safari and got FPs. While we waited for the return time, we did the Exploration Trail.

Then it was safari time.

It was kinda hard for my DSIS to get pics at the right angle from where she was sitting. So, there aren't many of the safari. I should mention that she was the sole photographer for the trip. She brought 2 cameras and extra memory cards and took many many pictures! She had a new camera that she wasn't used to and so some of the night shots are blurry, especially the ones of fireworks. She realized once we were back home that she had it on the wrong setting. But she still did good and got us a lot of pics! She will be ready for those night shots next time!

 

[swisely]

We then decided to go and see FOTLK. What a great show! It was nice to be able to sit down and cool off. I was surprised because I didn't know what to expect, and there were acrobats, lots of audience participation and of course, great music. Really a good show.

Then it was time to leave because we had ADRs at Chef Mickey's for dinner! Here are some things we saw on the way out.

 

[swisely]

So, we needed to leave because we had reservations for Chef Mickey's. We didn't get to ride EE this time, but we come back another day to AK--would we be able to ride it then? So we were off to the Contemporary for CM's. I honestly don't remember where we went to get there, but we arrived by monorail, so maybe we went to MK and took the monorail over?? Anyway, that is the coolest, having the monorail go straight thru the hotel. Maybe I am easily amused, I don't know. This is our first ADR of the trip. Now, I bought my son an autograph book, thinking I would be wasting my money because he is too cool for school, ya know? So we arrive and they had trouble finding my reservation number. This would be the same at every ADR the rest of the week. Luckily, I had with me my laminated list of ADRs and the confirmation numbers for each. When they looked for a good 5 minutes, they finally decided to look at my info, and eventually found our name. No biggy, but I wonder what happened during scheduling that caused all the confusion. They seated us and it was about 6:00. The restaurant wasn't that busy yet, and we helped ourselves to a plate of food from the buffet--which by the way I don't remember exactly what I had, and I certainly don't know what everyone else had except for DS (chicken nuggets and fries), but I remember it being just OK. Nothing special, but it is more about the experience. It wasn't long before the characters started arriving and lo and behold, my DS was surprisngly excited. He was totally into it. This came as a shock to me--after all he is too cool and all. Well, he got all of their autographs and from that night on, he was on a quest to get more autographs at all the parks, and willing to stand in line to do so. He wanted Daisy Duck's autograph so bad, and we finally found her at Epcot later on. Here are some photos of CM's.

I enjoyed watching the interaction between the characters with all my family. The only thing is, Goofy acted like he was in a hurry. We were dissappointed, because he is a favorite. Minnie was the best! This was Jared's face after getting a few autographs--he was loving it!

And it seemed that they came around more than once while we were there. We really got a lot of character interaction--except from Goofy.

From there, we headed back over to DTD for a little shopping. We visited the Christmas store--I really wanted to get an ornament. I got a really cute one--maybe I can post a pic of it later, as we didn't take any of it on the trip. We stopped by Goofy's cand co. and I had been wanting to get the make your own treats. Well, I was too full to even think about it. In fact, I had planned on doing some serious eating the whole trip, or snacking, and I was never hungry enough! What is up with that? I thought I would be eating Mickey bars right and left, leaving Goofy's with a load of stuff, etc., but I was too hot or too full most of the time. The weather was hot, but not unbearable by the way, like it normally is in August, and I was thankful for that. Anyway, I just wanted to drink. My DSIS got one of the make your own drink cups. It was so cute. She made the one that looks like Goofy, and my DS made one like Mickey Mouse. They both had frozen cokes in them. I ended up with a bag of chewy Spree, which took a few days to dissappear. After a little more shopping, we headed back to the hotel for the evening, after a long day. And DS was becoming more and more Goofy.

Up next, we head to Epcot for day 3.