We're back! Our Trip Report June 10-17, 2007, Updated 6-22!

[Ragetti]

Well, yesterday we woke up from our wonderful dream and returned to the waking world. Over the next few days, I'll be posting a detailed trip report (complete with pics!) and tell you about our wonderful adventure. But here is the first installment. I've posted a pre-trip report, but here's a review of the cast:

Me: I'm a 41 year old Systems Engineer. My first Disney Experience came when I was 5 or 6 (can't QUITE remember). My grandfather, who lived in Central Florida, passed away and my family went down for the funeral. After all the sad stuff, my folks decided we needed something to lift the spirits of the whole famly, so we spent a day at Disney World (just the MK then). I don't have much of a memory of the place. I can remember the Snow White Ride (SCARY!), The Peter Pan Ride (Neat!), and the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride (COOL!). My next experience was in the early 80's, literally just before EPCOT opened. Missed it by that >< much! Don't remember much other than loving POTC and HM. Next time was the Big Family Vacation. A few years after I graduated from college, my parents decided that the family needed one last hurrah. We all went to WDW for 10 days, staying in our camper at Fort Wilderness. At luck would have it, a group of friends of mine decided to go down at the same time. That group of friends included my current DW, though at the time, she was just a friend. In short, we had an AMAZING time that trip. And about a month later, my "friend" became my girlfriend! Must be something in the WDW water. We managed another 1-day trip a few years later, but we arrived the night before at 3:00AM and the next day was a bit of a blur. Bleh. Still, must be something in the water, we married 9 months later! General disposition: laid back kinda guy, love almost all things Disney. Favorite rides: Haunted Mansion, POTC, Tower of Terror.

DW: a 42-year-old College Professor. Went to WDW as kid in the mid-70's. Next time is when we went in 1993, and last time was the Day of Exhaustion. Very much a Disney fan.

DD(4, almost 5): Currently obsessed with virtually all things Disney. Particularly fond of Princesses (huge suprise, eh?) and she likes to pretend to be on Capt. jack Sparrow's crew (even though we haven't let her see the movies yet). This trip's focus is her birthday, which will happen on Day 3: June 12, 2007.


So... we'll begin this report with DAY 0. The day before we left.

Day 0: June 9, 2007

So... the day before the trip. Why do I include this? Becuase it is KEY to the success or failure of the trip!

Well, I planned this trip with a full open Saturday before the travel day. I did this because my boss has a lovely habit of having me go on business trips right before vacation, leaving DW to prepare all by herself. Well, I didn't want that to happen, so I scheduled the travel day on Sunday to ensure we had a complete day before to get ready. Well the boss didn't disappoint and I indeed was on a business trip until Friday afternoon.

Soo.... Day 0 consisted of laundry, doing dishes, laundry, more dishes, some more laundry, keeping DD entertained, and more laundry. Oh yeah, we'll pack some too!

Day 0 goes suprisingly well. Other than working to get ready, we have no issues. My planning and DIS visits are pretty much paying off, and I think we're ready. I check-in to the airline online, print the boarding passes, and we're ready to go.

So... I'm downloading the photos as I type, and tonight I plan to put up the Day 1 report. The fun is about to begin!

 

[jcc0621]

Subscribing

 

[vassar36]

can't wait to hear about your trip!

 

[OhMari]

Glad you are posting, looking forward to your pictures.

 

[rentayenta]

Count me in!

 

[ChrisLei]

Coming along for the fun and adventures!

 

[SnoopyDancer]

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Ragetti]

Was helping DW do some end-of-trip laundry last night, so here it is.... Day 1!

Day 1: June 10, 2007

Wake up time is 6:00 AM. We got to sleep a little late, due to the loads of laundry and camping, but being tired from all the prep work, we fell right to sleep. When the alarm went off, I can truley say we were all so excited that a little sleepiness was no problem! DW and I went to wake up DD and she was a bit groggy at first, but as soon as we reminded her that TODAY IS DISNEY DAY, she bounded out of bed in a frenzy and was ready to get dressed. We had our clothes all laid out, so into our travel clothes we go! WE load up the minivan and and we're off to the airport, grabbing some Burger King breakfast on the way.

Traffic was light and we arrive at the airport in plenty of time. Unfortunately, it's MAYHEM in the airport for some reason. I mean, who travels on Sunday morning!? Apparently a LOT of folks. We meet two other families on their way to Disney..... geez, that place is popular.

Well, we have plenty of time, so it's not a problem and we board the airplane right on time. DD is still 4, so we get to do teh pre-boarding one last time. We've flown back to see the grandparents a number of times, so even at 4, DD is a vereran flyer. She settles in and we have a peaceful flight.

The excitement grows as we descend into MCO. DD practically erupts when we land, and she sees her first real palm trees in person! WE're doing the Magical Express thingie, so I get out the info and we follow the map to the Disney Welcome center. Check-in with Magical Express goes smothly, and in about 20 minutes, we're aboard the bus, on our way to Disney. The bus we were on was a Disney Cruise Lines bus, and we didn;t have a video playing or anything. I'm not sure if teh regular DME buses do. That was a SLIGHT disappointment, but DD was now tired, and cuddled up to me and fell right to sleep. But in 30 minutes, we're pulling into Port Orleans French Quarter.... DD wakes up and we're all so excited we can hardly stand it.

We get off the bus and head into registration. Registration takes only minutes, and we're set up with our resort cards and I get teh briefing on teh DDP. We are assigned a room on the third floor of building 5, facing the river, but very near the elevator. Perfect.

Off to the room. It's hot. And humid. Well it's Florida in June, what did I expect? But we only have a few carryons, so it's an easy trip to the room and we're there in no time. We enter the room and are very pleased. The decor/theming is lovely. It's very clean, and the view over the river is wonderful. Here's a pic of DW and DD jusst after we got into the room

It's then that we notice that our room already has an occupant... this cute little visitor:

My daughter is delighted! She dances around the room with her little bunny and we practically have to sit on her to get her settle down so we can head out for our first foray to the parks. Eventually we all get sun-screened up and head down to the Sassagoula Float Works to grab a bite before heading off to the Magic Kingdom.

We all order the meatball sub and salad. The food is really quite good (I'd give it a B+/A-... only marks off for not having a lot of toppings choices). I was struck by this odd Bacchus float head and how it seemed to be staring down at the diners below:

But we ain't here to eat subs at the resort, so we're off to the buses.

We board the bus for the Magic Kingdom and get our first earful of the piped-in music that would become so familiar over teh next week. The trip takes about 25 minutes and we're passing Space Mountain (which DD instantly recognizes from the planning DVD) and soon we're out of the bus and heading into the park.

I don't think I need to explain to anyone how I felt as we entered Main Street, and DD got her first glimpse of the castle. Tears were aflowin'! After DD just gawks for a moment, we all gather ourselves and head up Main Street. Here's me and DD for teh obligatory castle shot:

You'll notice I'm wearing Crocs. I learned about them here, and I'm glad I did. My success with them led to both DW and DD having them in a couple days.

At this point, DD's awe is turning to excitment, and soon she's pulling me towards Fantasyland. All these amazing rides in the MK and guess what she wants to ride? THE CAROSEL! Well, this trip is all about the DD, so the carosel it is. We all board, and here's a shot of DD and DW as we all ride:

After the carosel, we head to the Dumbo ride, but a storm brews up and the ride is shot down just as we're about to board. I had picked up fast passes to the Pooh ride, but it's still a good 45 minutes till they are good. WE go to check out Peter Pan, but the line is LONG. Even It's a Small World is rapidly filling up, with nearly an hour wait. Ah well, DD REALLY wants to do Small World, so into line we get. Then it happens. One of those nice blue-shirted CM's steps up and askes DD is she can wave nicely. She can of course, and we're informed that she has been selected as the It's a Small World Cruise Director! How cool is that!? She gets to go into the control booth and wave to the departing cruisers. And the CMin there shows her what all the displays and buttons do. Here's a pic:

The CM looks a little blah there, but she was actually VERY nice and made DD feel very special. After a bit, we were guided down to the front of the line and given the front seat in the boat. This is feeling magical already!

After Small World, we do the pooh ride, which we all enjoyed. I pointed out the picture of Toad handing off the deed to Owl, which we all enjoyed as we are all Wind in the Willows fans.

Then we did Snow White. I really expected DD to be terrified by Snow White and warned here NUMEROUS times thjat she might get scared if she did this ride. But she wanted to go. Snow White is her favorite princess! WEll, she did have to hide her eyes a few times, but she still loved the ride. The girl amazes me!

Now it's getting close to our ADR at Liberty Tree, so we decide to head to Frontierland. We sadly pass the closed Haunted Mansion <sniff> and find the restaurant. I then realize that the ressie is about 45 minutes after I thought, so we look for something to do. I know... PIRATES! My Favorite!

We do Pirates, and DD suprises me again... her favorite part? The Davy Jones "waterfall." What a cool effect BTW.

After Pirates, we high-tail it back to Liberty Tree for dinner.

The food here was good. Not great, but good (DW liked it more than I did). But the character interaction was AWESOME. DD got lots of quality time with the characters, and she particularly love her time with Minnie:

After dinner, we head back and do Peter Pan. I had forgotten how much fun this ride is. DD loved it, and DW and I left all smiles as well. It's now getting late, and after a short look through some shops, we start to find a spot for the Spectromagic parade. The parade was awesome, but it was super crowded and very stuffy. Bleh. I took some pics, but none of them came out well. :/ After the parade, we grab a drink and find a good spot for Wishes.


We find a decent spot for Wishes, and we settle in. Needless to say, we really enjoyed this show. DD is still convinced she saw the real Tinkerbell that night... and who am I to say she didn't?

After Wishes, we wander out of the MK and make our weary way back to the buses. We've done a lot our first day, and we're just gettng started. Tomorrow's target: Animal Kingdom.

 

[afcgirl]

Great report so far! I love the pictures! Your DD is a cutie!

 

[Avivasmom]

What a cutie your DD is. We love POFQ.

Love the last shot of the Castle and the fireworks.

 

[ReneeDisney]

Great trip report so far! Can't wait to read more and see more pictures!
Thanks for sharing your families memories with us!

 

[jenv]

I am loving your trip report and your daughter is sooo cute. My daugter's birthday is also June 12. She just turned 6. She loves princessess too!!

I love your pictures especially your castle shot at night with the fireworks. What kind of camera were you using. My castle/fireworks shots never turn out but just got a new camera!! I can't wait to use it at Disney.

Jen

 

[Ragetti]

Thanks everyone for your kind words! I'm always amazed by neat coincidences like jenv's daughter's birthday! The camera I used for this trip is a Canon PowerShot SD600. Neat littel point and shoot camera that my in-laws gave me for my birthday. I'm working on the Day 2 report and should have it tomorrow if I'm lucky.

 

[GottaGetToDisney!]

Hi Ragetti!
We were there the same week you were! (June 9-17, for us). Reading your report is helping to minimize my post-trip depression...a little bit.
Thanks for sharing!

Gotta Get To Disney!

p.s. We were at POR...I know what you mean by that bus music. It's stuck in my head right now.

 

[SnoopyDancer]

That is so awesome your daughter got to be cruise director!!! Do you know if they do it a lot, or was this just for year of a million dreams? I love the picture of your daughter with Minnie. She is just beaming!

 

[Ragetti]

That is so awesome your daughter got to be cruise director!!! Do you know if they do it a lot, or was this just for year of a million dreams? I love the picture of your daughter with Minnie. She is just beaming!

The lovely lady , Noel, that awarded the cruise director prize was a Dream Team CM. I assume this is just a YOAMD thing. We got the blue certificate.

My daughter fell in love with Minnie during the week and she is now her favorite non-princess Disney character.

 

[vassar36]

what a wonderful start to your vacation with DD and Small World surprise...can't wait to read more

 

[jcc0621]

Great start. Looking forward to more. It's great that your DD was granted a wish!

 

[ChefMickeyCM]

Cruise director? How cool is that?! She will never forget being cruise director.

 

[Ragetti]

This takes longer than it looks!

Here is....

DAY 2: June 11, 2007 - Animal Kingdom

Well, we've been here less than 24 hours, but we've already had a HELLUVA time. Our "plan" had been to take it easy the first night and get an early start. Dint happen. The lure of the Magic Kingdom was too much, and we stayed rather later than intended (after Wishes). I also forgot to mention that when we got back to the room at night, our luggage was there... and just inside the door. But it was dark, I didn't see it, and I tripped over it. I stayed still for a moment and I felt a pang in my foot. I overextended it a bit, but no twisted ankle, and nothing broken. Disaster averted. At least I thought so.

I woke up this morning and my foot is SORE. I'm concerned at this point, but I'm hoping it'll work itself out through the day. Here's hoping.

We hit the food court and grab breakfast. The food was really good, but it takes a long time and we decide that tomorrow we'll grab some cereal, milk and juice from the shop and eat in the room. But today we don't, and it takes a little effort to get done. But we do eventually get done and head out to the buses. One cool thing, we got Mardi Gras beads!

It's super-fire-hot today. But we're prepared, and spirits are high as we approach DAK. My foot is doing OK, mostly, and I have only a slight limp as I get to the gate. There are a couple characters at the gate. DD wants a pic with Rafiki:

So, into DAK we go. We are stunned by how beautiful it is. What a gorgeous place! We decide what we're gonna do, and suprise, suprise, DD wants to go to Dinoland, USA please. What DOES suprise me is that she wants to ride DINOSAUR! She's still 4 (well... 5 tomorrow), but this riude looks SCARY to me. She's for it though. Well.... OK....

The line is quite short, and in we go. I'm really impressed with the qeue in this building and the preshow is cute. we load up in the car (front row) and off we go! DD is between DW and I and we tell her to hide her eyes if she gets scared. In we go. The ride itself is pretty neat. The animatronics are pretty convincing, and some of the effects are pretty gee-wiz. I particularly think the vehicle technology is cool. The "back-light" effects are little....meh... but it's handled well here. DD particularly likes when the iguanadon is "saving" the riders, and she pretends the igaunadon is her pet the rest of the day.

Well, DD, hides her eyes several times, but when we pull into the offload area, she grants the ride her highest accolade: "That was AWESOME!"

We then pop over to Hexter's and Bexter's and ride triceratops spin and then get in line for the new Nemo show. We are like in the last 20 people to get in, and we are in a standing-room-only section inthe VERY back. :/ The show was still great, but my wife's feet were really hurting. Frankly, even in crocks, just STANDING is a little uncomfroatble on the feet. However, in general, my feet were doing pretty well, while DW was feelin' the pain. She shopped for Crocs last night, but all they had in her size were the black ones with the red strap. Today, she resolves to get the black ones if that's all that's available. DD got the pink Disney crocs and we'll become an all-Crocs family. I know I'm sure a believer at this point.

Well after Nemo, we head over to Asia. DD wants to do Exepdition Everest. DW and I are little concerned about DD on EE, but she wasn't freaked out by DINOSAUR! and she digs rollercoasters, so what the heck! We probably shoulda fast-passed this, but we didn'st so intot eh line we go. The sky is starting to look a but threatening at this point and it's HOT. The line take all of 45 minutes, and we get warned about possible closure, but we get on the train and we're off! DD is diggin the first part, but when she see's the "broken" tracks, she somewhat freaks out. I try to reassure her it's part of the show, but she's a little bothered and doesn't liek the going backwards part. She becomes very bothered by the shadow of the Yeti and closes her eyes. She misses the actual Yeti itself, though she handles the "ride" portion just fine. I'm a bit surprised she's freaked by the Yeti when Dinosaur wasn't that scary to her, but there you go. For the rest of the trip, she will say she loves EVERYTING in Disney World EXCEPT THAT YETI.

next we head off to the Tusker House for lunch... and the slowest service we'll expereince in WDW. But I'm determined to not get freaked out, and go with the flow. The food here is pretty darned good for quick service, and we all feel refreshed after the meal. Welp, next off to the safari. The wait here is nearly an hour. But I have to say it was worth the wait. Neat ride. I was amazed that the animals were just RIGHT THERE. The Rhino was just 20 yards away, and the giraffe was quite close. Here's a pic of one of the giraffes:

I really digged this ride and want to do it again Real Soon Now(tm).

After the safari, we decide we really want to hit the Lion King show so we head off to that, grabbing some frozen lemonade on the way... TASTEY.

We get good seats for Festival of the Lion King, and we have a great time in this show, wich was much better than we expected (not that we expected it to be bad, it's just that it was that GOOD). Seriously, those "monkey" acrobats were freakin' amazing!

A little pic of my buddy Simba:

Well after this, we really have to get ready to leave for our ADR... and we're bummed. We really enjoyed DAK, and wish we could stay longer. Havta say that I can't understand people saying this is a "half-day" park. It's big fun IMO, and I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer. Ah well, next trip.

Our ADR is at Chef Mickey's, so we hop the boss to the contemporary. We kinda flub the timing and we get to Chef Mickey's like 30 minutes late. But np... the folks at the check-in are very helpful and kind and are checked-in and seated in matter of minutes.

Here's our tired, thirsty, and sweaty group pic:

We get to our table, and I wanna tell you about a really great CM. Her name is Rebecca, and she was our waitress. When I explained how THIRSTY I was, she made sure that DW and I always had 2 sodas on the table. When they found out that tomorrow was DD's birthday (DD was telling everyone), they INSISTED that the party start TONIGHT. We get a visit from all the characters and they are all great, except for Donald, who seems a little like he'd rather be somehwere else. But DD is unfazed. She's especially delighted to meet teh Mouse himself, So here she is with Mickey:

Rebecca then organized the people around us to sing happy birthyday lead by Pluto:

You can see Rebecca a bit in the shadows. ChefMickeyCM... if you know her, thank her for a really great time! She made our night magical!

Well, it was back to the room, where were greeted by our second towel animal:

WE were all exhausted and collapsed straight into bed. Tomorrow is thge BIG DAY!