We're Doing WHAT For My Birthday??? - Final Thoughts

[mnmrmustard]

Ding Ding Ding!!! 3:30am wake-up after 4 restless hours

We had everything laid out so it was a quick splash of water/bathroom stuff and we were in our comfy clothes for a day of air travel. We grabbed our gear and rolled down to the lobby at 4am. We were met by of all people, the US Airways flight crew for our flight!

Not much conversation on the way in and a very uneventful drop-off and bag drop. It was a bummer to have to pay for each checked bag (we had been flying United, which lets you check one bag at no charge). We were there with just over an hour before our flight. We found a corner and I snoozed on the floor for a while Roxy watched our stuff. After a half hour we switched.

Boarding was the standard cattle drive, as we were about to board the person behind us was nice enough to snap this with my phone

The trip itself was only two hours, which went fast. The sun came up as we were flying.

We landed in Phoenix just after sunrise and had a short walk to our next gate. The wait was only about 45min before out next flight. Roxy bought some snacks and two good neck pillows with sun devils on them. The big downside of the next leg was that we were unable to get seats together. The best I could do was to get seats right behind each other. They were middle seats so there was no way anyone would switch.

It turned out to be all right as both of us were blessed with smaller people on either side of us. We had more room than we would have sitting together. No movies or anything on the flight but the bagel sandwich they offered for lunch wasn’t bad and we both had good books. We had a good tail wind and landed at MCO a full 25 minutes earlier than scheduled!

I got a stewardess to take a pic of Roxy and I on the MCO monorail, I hope Roxy doesn’t mind that I’m posting it even though she was talking when they snapped it

Now since we planned this so last minute we couldn’t get the full ME service for our bags (no tags to have them taken to our resort). So we did have to go to baggage claim and get our suitcases and roll down to the ME Welcome Center. There was no line so we went right up to the counter and were soon on our way down the line to the spot where they have you wait. We were there a whole 30 seconds before they let the handful of us that were there out the door and on to our bus. We settled in and I snapped a quick pic of Roxy

We hit the road and waited for the ME movie to start

Ye ole MCO tower

An another ME bus

We left the airport

And started watching the show

Hiiii Mickey!

Hark, I see exits to “The World!”

Getting clooossseeee!!

And honestly I cheated with this – due to where we were sitting I couldn’t get a shot of the entrance until days later when we were heading to Universal the second time. But here it is anyways!

We made it on to property and made a quick stop at the Caribbean Beach to drop off passengers. It looked like a cool place but it looked so spread out. Seemed like there would be a lot of walking involved in getting around there.

The sales pitch and info part had finished on screen and I glanced up in time to see Donald getting into mischief

Then there it was!

On through the gate

We rolled in to the front door

We were greeted by no lines and lots of smiles

Norman was nice enough to snap a pic of us

We checked in and got our packet

I had asked them if they got me a good room for my birthday. They said 50s pool view – w00t! We walked out the door and I got my first real view of the bowling pins.

Coming up, we settle in and head out

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 1 Part 2 - Heading Downtown

 

[disneygeeks]

you can count me in....I went for my b-day about 2 years ago and everything was so much fun and lots of character meetings...have fun and I hope it all works out for you.

 

[mnmrmustard]

you can count me in....I went for my b-day about 2 years ago and everything was so much fun and lots of character meetings...have fun and I hope it all works out for you.

Welcome to my birthday adventure! There were lots of character interactions along with LOADS of random guests wishing me a happy B-Day

 

[disneygeeks]

wow, what a great snag!! I'm sorry I missed your post earlier about what date you wanted but it doesn't matter now. Absolutely thrilled that you got in to Le Cellier!!

I still really want that tag though.

Marsha, I'm sure I must've seen those pics before but I don't remember them!

Mike, when MY Mike didn't eat his veggies...he knew what would happen. So he attempted to go dump his greens on the table next to ours, where the party had just left.

Well, his plan ALMOST worked. The waiter, I think his name was Tim, happened to be coming by as Mike was returning to his seat. He studied his table and then pointed and said "Are these yours? What are you doing putting your greens on my table?? Come here, you're going in time out!" He made him stand up with his nose against the wall. And when Mike started laughing he said "oh you think this is funny? JAAAANEETTT!! Look what your boy did, he put his greens on my table" She went and scolded him, with her hands on her hips. And then she said "No dessert for you!" This went on for a good 15 minutes and it was a complete riot.
To top it off, the family directly next to us was from the VERY TOWN I grew up in (only 40 minutes from where we NOW live) and their boys were hilarious. They made sure to "tattle" on Mike, so he would have never gotten away with it had Tim not caught him. LOL

That is hilarious...I haven't eaten there yet but hope to next time I go to WDW

 

[mermaid764]

Yah for finally arriving at POP after your long day of travel.

We stayed 50's pool view our last visit there and loved the location, hopefully you guys did too.

Can't wait to hear where you were headed to first

 

[disneygeeks]

love it so far...great TR...the last time we went we stayed at the pop as well and really it was a great place to stay....take care.

 

[mnmrmustard]

The main pool looked very inviting.

Loved the tie-dye

This was the view from room 3303

Loved the room, found a friend inside the door.

We had a mega-comfortable king-sized bed, new flat-screen TV, and an accessable shower. We didn’t know why we had that shower, but we really enjoyed the space we had to move around in there. We found out later from one of the lifeguards that Pop had undergone a big upgrade (or at least our section had) and had the new TVs and the beds were from one of the Port Orleans resorts.

We headed out for dinner, looking across and saying ‘hi’ to Lady as we passed, she was on the other side - we were on the Tramp side.

Here is the only food pic I took, I really tried but couldn’t keep my mind on snapping pics of food. It was a good meatball sub though ;-D

After dinner we hopped on a bus for Downtown Disney. Goofy was on the road too!

There wasn’t anyone handy to take a pic for us when we got there so I used the timer

The brooms looked busy

We walked through a bunch of shops of course. While Roxy made a pit stop I caught a shot of the foot traffic at sundown.

Choochoo!

Loved the tinker toys

Roxy took my pic with Buzz

We then crossed the street to the pin store and said ‘hi’ to some classic characters

The captain takes the wheel outside World of Disney!

I see some worthy recruits for my crew

But if we were going to be pirates, we’d probably have to cross swords with Pan and his lot

Up next, we continue our walk through the World of Disney and more of DTD

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 1 Part 3 - Walking and Shopping and Walking Some More!

 

[mnmrmustard]

That is hilarious...I haven't eaten there yet but hope to next time I go to WDW

Oh you should, it was by far our favorite place to eat at DHS

Yah for finally arriving at POP after your long day of travel.

We stayed 50's pool view our last visit there and loved the location, hopefully you guys did too.

Can't wait to hear where you were headed to first

It was a very welcome site We enjoyed it very much and will either stay there again or at the new Pixar-themed resort they are building next to Pop

You don't have to wait long - already have it rolling

love it so far...great TR...the last time we went we stayed at the pop as well and really it was a great place to stay....take care.

Thank you, it is so much fun reliving it as I go through the pics and TR notes

 

[mnmrmustard]

It was a “whole new world” up there

With little piggies three

Goofy was cruisin’

Donald in an egg?

And our good friend the Jeanie

Tick Tock

I finally put down the camera and shopped a bit. I picked up my birthday hat which you will see me sporting later on in MK.

Roxy found some stuff for the girls. This trend continued throughout the trip – lol We headed back out and passed the lego dragon

We strolled past the Dino-themed restaurant T-Rex – rawwrrrr!

We headed on around the corner and ran into one of those living statues – very cool

Cool fountain

We started backtrackin as it was getting late. Looked across to ye ole Rainforest

Back past World of Disney

We took a pit stop at the margarita stand and cooled our throats and our feet. Good view from there

We headed back towards the entrance and passed the merry go round, love the classic look of this one

Back “home” again

Good night Tramp!

We made it back and settled into bed and were asleep by 11pm. Tomorrow brings us Universal and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 2 Part 1 - On to Universal's Islands

 

[Trentmom]

Loving all your pics

Your pics in World of Disney are great. Love that store

Sunset picture is so pretty

Can't wait to hear about Harry Potter and Universal

 

[kaoden39]

HI Mike.

I love all the pictures. Roxy has a great smile, she smiles in her eyes.

Great pictures. Pop looks great. You didn't by any chance get pictures of the room did you?

 

[cherbear]

wow, so much has changed since my last trip in Sept '09!

I didn't know they had living statues at DTD!! Do you remember the living statues they used to have in Epcot? (I think it was epcot...?) They were all in gray and I remember being freaked out by them when I was a kid. I remember on one our summer family trips several years back when I was a teen (okay maybe a little more than "several" now. ) we asked where the living statues were. A castmember told us that it was too hot at that time of day for them to be out. (I guess the makeup would melt) So we never did see them that trip...and haven't seen them since. I guess they are gone forever!! But now I am curious to see the ones in DTD

I loved your picture out of the window, of the sun coming up. And your pics at WoD are so detailed....sometimes we forget to look up!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

Loving all your pics

Your pics in World of Disney are great. Love that store

Sunset picture is so pretty

Can't wait to hear about Harry Potter and Universal

Thank you, and it is a very cool store - just goes on and on. I've got some cool pics for Harry Potter, just finishing up editing them

HI Mike.

I love all the pictures. Roxy has a great smile, she smiles in her eyes.

Great pictures. Pop looks great. You didn't by any chance get pictures of the room did you?

Thankyee! Yes, she has a wonderful smile. Pop is very cool, we loved it. But no, I unfortunately didn't get pics of the room. When we came in my camera was packed and by the time I had it out we had already "taken over" the room.

I did find a couple online - the difference is that the entertainment center they show has been replaced with a 6-drawer dresser with a 30-odd inch flatscreen on top of it.

wow, so much has changed since my last trip in Sept '09!

I didn't know they had living statues at DTD!! Do you remember the living statues they used to have in Epcot? (I think it was epcot...?) They were all in gray and I remember being freaked out by them when I was a kid. I remember on one our summer family trips several years back when I was a teen (okay maybe a little more than "several" now. ) we asked where the living statues were. A castmember told us that it was too hot at that time of day for them to be out. (I guess the makeup would melt) So we never did see them that trip...and haven't seen them since. I guess they are gone forever!! But now I am curious to see the ones in DTD

I loved your picture out of the window, of the sun coming up. And your pics at WoD are so detailed....sometimes we forget to look up!!

DTD is going through some revamps, fenced areas in a couple of places. And we didn't even go down to the other end.

Never saw the living statues at EPCOT, that must have been cool. I'm sure it would have freaked you out as a kid. I'll have to keep an eye out for them on future trips - I can tell you it was waaayyy too hot on our EPCOT day for them to have been out.

TY about the pics, I love those little details

 

[kaoden39]

Thank you. It looks like they did the changes similar to some of the changes at the DLH.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Thank you. It looks like they did the changes similar to some of the changes at the DLH.

It felt very comfortable, I certainly didn't feel like the skimped with it being a "value resort"

 

[kaoden39]

It felt very comfortable, I certainly didn't feel like the skimped with it being a "value resort"

Oh that sounds promising.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Oh that sounds promising.

Oh yes, we were very happy with the comfort, the maid service, the food, and the desk help. Would stay there again in a heartbeat. 50s, 60s, and 70s have the best location in relation to the front of the house if you're looking

 

[kaoden39]

Oh yes, we were very happy with the comfort, the maid service, the food, and the desk help. Would stay there again in a heartbeat. 50s, 60s, and 70s have the best location in relation to the front of the house if you're looking

Ok cool. I am so confused. It is a good thing that I am planning so far ahead.

 

[mnmrmustard]

Okay, time to make a confession before we head into the parks. I of course received my Birthday button when we checked in. I decided that since it would be a very long time before I ever made it back to Disney for my b-day, that I’d make the most of it. Each day I would be hitting a different park so each day I was going to wear that button! It was going to be 6 days of Birthday baby!

So I can tell you we slept hard after such a long travel day. The BIG upside was that the bed was mega-comfortable. It seemed softer than one I would like but I still slept well and Roxy LOVED it! We got up around 7am, grabbed showers and slathered on the sunscreen …oh, and we got dressed somewhere in there too ;D

We headed down to the food court and grabbed breakfast burritos and waters to go. We had reserved two seats on Mears for 8:25am to take us to Universal. The bus was on time – they take cash on the spot. If any of you want to do the same it costs $19 per person for round trip fare. You need to call Mears to make the rese to come back to the resort at least two hours before you want to leave, but the busses run every hour from Universal at 15 minutes after the hour until 2:15am!

We boarded shuttle, it had one more pick-up at Caribbean Beach. Unfortunately there was a very unhappy camper there with his fam. Pitched a fit about something and made us all wait. The driver is standing off to the side with a Disney security guy while a concierge talks to Mr. Loudmouth. Finally a Mears checker cab shows up and they get in it. We all applauded the driver when she got back on for showing such patience with such a blowhard. Funny thing is that we literally followed them all the way to the drop off and Roxy and I made it into the park before them because he had some issue at the ticket counter too. I felt sorry for his wife and kids.

We walked along the moving walkway and came to the entrance

Got our first sight of the Islands tower

Loved the airplane theme of that place

I made a pit stop while Roxy checked with customer services and got me an actual Universal Birthday Button (they just started – whoohoo!)

We headed in through the marketplace

For the panoramas I’ve taken I’m including links to the original size if you want to see them (and yes, I had to shave the roof off of the building on the left - I missed a chunk of it and it looked wierd when I put it together in photoshop):

Marketplace Panorama

On into Dr Seuss land!

Happy fishies!

Love their version of the merry go round

That be a big hat!

Food court Dr Seuss style

Where the Lorax lives

A colorful street for sure!

A Seussian Street

Gertrude McFuzzes

We left Dr Seuss Land and worked our way into The Lost Continent

I think he has a bit of a drool issue

Great theming

We were making a bee line for Harry Potter when Roxy saw the entrance for Poseidon’s Fury

We made it through the line and into the first room with the archeologist intern. He started his spiel and then left and came back. I was "outspoken" in responding to him and Roxy said it was my b-day. he then got the whole crowd to sing happy birthday to me – lol

We then waited a bit more and attendants opened an exit door and said the ride had closed due to someone in the group ahead of us passing out. We were lead out and down an exterior stair and along the side of the building and back to the entrance.

Roxy helped point the way

Poseidon’s Fury – AKA Building 231

They told us we could use the express line when it opened back up by using the phrase "God is with us"

Next up, we make into Harry Potter …or do we?

Click here to view the next chapter: Day 2 Part 2 – Hogsmeade has a Waitlist

 

[kaoden39]

I love the Dr Seuss stuff. I have always loved Dr Seuss.

I would so wear my birthday pin the whole trip too!! Why not? What are the chances that outside of the CMs at your resort that you will even see the same CM again. If you do what are the odds they'll even remember you if you do see them again?

Am I strange but I don't care about the rides at Universal but I do care about seeing all of the things? I want to see the Seuss area and the Harry Potter area.