What I Learned On My Disney Vacation-Complete

[DisneyNutMary]

This was a two part trip, so this is a two part report, the WDW, very brief section comes first, followed up by the report from our 9/18, Magic cruise.

Background Information
This trip was planned during our previous cruise in August, 2003; we had so much fun that we all decided to rebook ;D We rebooked on board for the special itinerary to include a stop at Antigua. We received a 10% discount for rebooking and $400 per stateroom credit Can't beat that with a stick, so how could we pass it up?
We had cruised the first time through DVC on points, but opted for cash this time, the deal was better with cash than points. We also brought along my stepson, who didn't come last year.
I learned a few valuable lessons on this trip, hence the name of my report, not the first of which is: There's a reason why hurricane season is so affordable

The Team:
The Walsh Family
Me ;D Mary, age 32
DH, Jimmy, age 48
DStS, James, age 16
DS, Bobby, age 10
DS, Tommy, age6

The Mustacchio Family
Lucy, my sis, and best friend
Frank, my bil, and probably the best friend my DH has
Anthony, age 11
Victoria, age 10

The Woods Family
Lucille, my sister's good friend, and my former boss
Wade, her hubby
Amanda, age 8

That is the motley crew 12 of us in all!

Day One, Sept 15: Will we make it?
We were set to leave via JetBlue Airways on the evening of Sept 15, our flight was at 5:50pm. This was the first week of school, but with Rosh Hashana, there would be no classes on Thursday and Friday.
The plan was to gather the kiddos, and be on the road as early as possible, which meant about 3 pm when Tommy got out of school.
You know what they say about the best laid plans, right?
I left work early, and got the luggage loaded into the car. It was trash night, so I was able to put out the trash and the recycleables without alerting the neighbors of our impending escape. Got the house cleaned, water turned off, and appliances unplugged. All with time to spare.
About 2:30pm, I got the call from James that he would be at Tommy's school by 3 to meet us- cool, things are falling into place.
Jimmy and Bobby arrive home by 2:45, and they jump into the car so we can go pick up James and Tommy.
The trip to the airport is about 45 minutes at this time of day, so we are in good shape.
By 3:05 we are on our way. We call my sis and bil on the cell phone and coordinate to meet in the Long Term Parking lot.
It looks good until we cross the Verrazano Narrows Bridge The Belt Parkway looks like a parking lot!
My nerves start to fray, and I stare at the clock, willing it to slow down.
It seems we didn't account for the fact that Rosh Hashana means rush hour comes early for our Jewish neighbors, who need to be home before sundown. We crawled along, while the clock ticked away. Then it starts to rain, no make that POUR! This slows traffic down even more, and I resign myself to the fact that we will NEVER make it.
Fortunately, someone was looking out for us, because about 4 miles from the airport, the traffic cleared, and we sailed through, and had the car parked by 4:30pm. Plenty of time. Whew!

What I learned:Don't count your chickens before they hatch
That's right, we thought we were in good shape, until we were aboard the airport shuttle. We had gone two stops when Frank realizes he left his wallet in the car So he jumped off to head back, and we continued on. We got to the terminal, and checked in, and checked the bags.
The clock was ticking now, and Frank had not come back yet. My family headed up to the gate, while my sister and her kids waited for Frank. Upon arrival at the gate, we were told that they had 4 minutes to show up or they would miss the flight. I whipped out my cell phone, "Lucy, RUN!!!!"
We boarded, and watched the door tensely, praying they would make it. And they did, with plenty of time....I still want to smack the guy at the gate who was so nasty and said we would leave without them.
All aboard, and seated, the flight was smooth, and uneventful. JetBlue is awesome! Seats were comfy, and the direct tv was perfect for keeping the kids quiet.

Coming up: Arrival in Orlando, and first impressions of the Contemporary Resort

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 1, Part 2:Arrival in Orlando, and first impressions of the Contemporary Resort

After an uneventful flight, we landed in Orlando, right on time. Headed down to baggage claim. What I learned: I am definitely going to buy a bright colored set of luggage, maybe teal, or red

Every single bag looks the same So after some close calls, we actually came away with all of our own luggage. We headed over to Avis to pick up the rental. What I learned: Next year, I will take advantage of my Avis Preferred membership, and go directly to my car.

After a stop at McDonald's to fill our rumbly tummies (why is fast food so slow here?) We finally approached the Contemporary Resort
Gave the bags to bell services, and check-in was a breeze. We got a 7th floor room, Magic Kingdom view room 4344

It was a good thing I took this picture, because I kept forgetting my room number :-[
Great location, on the side of the hotel closer to MK, right above the pin trading station.

My sister was one floor up, right over Chef Mickey's. We could wave to one another from our balconies.

It was cool to see the monorail pass below, and we finally figured out how they get the monorail to park in the middle of nowhere at night, they tow it!

That funny thing at the front is the tow train.

Coming soon: Day 2, Sept 16, Epcot and MGM

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Oh, I forgot to mention, there was an awesome candy bouquet waiting in the room. It was sent by a FeralPeg, she makes these, and wanted to practice, so she volunteered to send me one. It was beautiful, and a real treat for my kids.

This picture was taken after my kids attacked, and it still looks great!
What I learned: Disney People are the kindest, most generous people ;D


Thanks so much, Feralpeg

 

[jlawall]

Thx for your reports, they're great!!!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 2, Part 1: Epcot
We were exhausted when we got in the night before, so we went right to bed without even exploring the hotel, or enjoying our view.
Promptly at 6:58am, Mickey called to tell us "up and at em, big doins going on"
I was already up and in the shower, so the kids got to fight over who answered it. Bobby won, which caused a fit of pouting from Tommy.
The plan was to meet my sister's family in the Food and Fun Center, then hop the monorail to TTC, then on to Epcot.
I finally got to check out the view while everyone else got ready. Awesome! I felt like I could reach out and touch Space Mountain. I watched the monorail come into the hotel, and I could hear the Walt Disney World Railroad whistle from out there. Ahhh, home again, at last!

Magic Kingdom in the a.m.

When we were all dressed and ready (I wish I had known that 16 year old boys take 45 minutes to get ready in the morning. : ) we headed down to the first floor, to the Food and Fun Center. Where Lucy and family were seated and waiting for us.
Nothing remarkable about breakfast other than the Bacon, egg and cheese croissant- Yum!

Epcot was opening at 9, and we were up at the monorail by 8:45, not bad. On to TTC, where the kids wanted me to ask for the front car. It was free, though the CM seemed annoyed that we asked-I chalked up to hurricane season, and let it go.
Only 4 could go, so Tommy and James went since they had never ridden up there, and we let the other two boys go with them, Anthony and Bobby.

The boys waiting for their front of the monorail ride

We saw plenty of fallen trees on both sides of the monorail track, remnants of Charley and Frances. The loop around Future World confirmed that it was off season-the park was empty.
We were so excited, we ran down the ramp and into the park....well, almost. Two of Lucy's passes had become de-magnetized, and wouldn't go through on the turnstile. So a quick 5 minute wait later, and new passes in hand, we headed up the left hand side of Spaceship Earth, toward Mission: Space and Test Track.

Once past SE, Goofy and Max were up ahead, with no lines!!! And now it struck me....We're here, we're really here. I was skipping and yelling, and just excited to be there.

We stopped for some pictures with the characters, then took a sharp left toward the big shiny planets at M:S. I was wary about riding, so I took all of the park hoppers to Test Track for Fast Passes, not that we would need them, but being in WDW, I assumed the crowds were bound to appear sooner or later. Lo and behold, the 2 passes of Lucy's that did work at the park entry, did not work now. So I high-tailed it to Guest Services to have the problem corrected.
What I learned: A cell phone in close proximity to your park hoppers WILL demagnetize them

Back at Mission:Space, I expected everyone to be green around the gills, but they all emerged looking fine. They assured me that I could easily have handled this ride, so it is now on my must do list for next time.

Over to Test Track, where a 5 minute posted wait proved my guess that Fast Passes were unnecessary. When we were near the pre show area, the ride broke down, so there was a 5 minute wait for it to be fixed. Then again after we exited the pre-show another break down, with another 5 minute wait. :

The ride photo was awful, my son's whole face was blocked out by the windshield, so we passed on buying it.
When we exited the ride we got a call from Wade and Lucille that they were at CR and were checking into their Garden Wing room now...they weren't able to get a Tower room like the rest of us

We headed over to Ice Station Cool, and were disappointed that there was no real ice in the igloo, I guess they cut back in the off season No fooling anyone with the Beverly, we had all tried it before. The ginger ale was the best liked flavor, and it was a welcome treat to have a nice cold drink after the morning's heat and humidity.

My nephew, Anthony, being a member of the Figment fan club, wanted to go to Journey into Imagination next, so we headed for the Figment ride. No wait! Afterward we played in Image Works for a while (still haven't received the pictures we e-mailed home) then headed out toward World Showcase.

 

[DisneyNutMary]

We had planned not to do World Showcase, but I really wanted to ride Maelstrom, so everyone else relented, and we headed toward Norway. One stop at a souvenir cart, where Jimmy and James bought new sunglasses, and Jimmy and I tried on funny hats.

Wade and Lucille called to say they were hungry, so we were going to wait for them in WS and have lunch together. On to Norway, where I took lots of pics for my co-worker who is of Norwegian descent, and we rode Maelstrom.
The kids got a kick out of trying on Viking hats, so I had to snap a picture. My husband got a kick out of the pretty Norwegian girls, but no picture for him!

We get a call from Lucille again, they had eaten at the Food and Fun Center, and were on their way to Epcot. Grrr! We were starving, and were waiting for them, so we headed over to America for some burgers.

Coming up: Epcot continues, MGM, and Where to have dinner?

 

[april riddle]

great posts and great pictures

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 2, Part 2: Exiting Epcot, and MGM

After lunch, we headed toward the International Gateway to catch the launch to MGM-from the lunch to the launch ...okay, bad joke, I know!

The ride to MGM was calming, but the boat makes so many stops

After what seemed like forever, we got off and headed for the gate to MGM. Our first stop would be the Great Movie Ride, with a stop for Mickey Bars on the way. (Either I was cranky, or I forgot I had the camera, because I seem to be lacking pictures of most of MGM! :'()
What I learned:Take more pictures!


Anyway, Tommy, who we all forgot, does not like chocolate, proceeds to have a melt down into full tantrum at this point. It seems we gave him a mickey bar (poor misguided child turns down a mickey bar) which he does not want! Some of the street performers see this, and bring us into their act. This helped cool me off a bit, seeing as how I could not understand my child, not only turning down a Mickey Bar, the Holy Grail of all ice cream treats, but also acting in such a spoiled brat manner in MY HAPPY PLACE! If it weren't for the street performers, I might have lost it then.

Anyway, I digress, we dragged a very pouty Tommy to GMR. It was a walk on, like everything else.

When we exited the ride, we called Wade and Lucille to see if they were in the park yet, we were saving ToT and RnR to ride with them. They said they were on ToT It wasn't all good, not after Tommy's melt-down.

So we grumpily made our way to ToT. I was the only one of our group of 9 who was too chicken to ride, so I head to the gift shop where, who do I meet? Wade! Amanda and Lucille came along soon too. We are finally one big happy (well, almost happy) group.

Next stop, RnR, which I also chickened out of :-[ I waited with Tommy, who is to short to ride, and Lucille and Amanda who took a pass on this one.

When the others got off the ride, we went over to Star Tours, which is a favorite of mine Then took some pics outside the ride (I guess I remembered I had the camera )

Tommy fully recovered from his tantrum.

Bobby really getting into it!

After Star Tours, we rounded a corner, and who did we find?

Sully and Mike! ;D

We were getting hungry, and weren't too sure how busy the park restaurants would be, so we headed back to CR and picked up the rental cars. We took our motorcade (3 cars) down 192 in search of vittles. And found a Macaroni Grill ;D
It's a favorite back home, so this was a no brainer. Yum!

What I learned: MGM and Epcot really should not be done in one day! It felt like we missed so much in our rush!


Coming soon: Day 2 part 3, will this day ever end? J/K ;D

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 2 Part 3

Let's see, where was I?
Oh we were having dinner at the Macaroni Grill, yummy, if you're a Macaroni Grill fan ask for the Bella Napoli (or italian nachos) they're not on the menu, but they'll make them for you- they are worth it.
When we left the restaurant, we decided to stay up late and let the kids try out the pool. The guys wanted some Coronas for pool side, so Jimmy and I made a side trip to Publix for Coronas and a few limes (and a plastic knife to cut the limes)
What I learned: The Contemporary Resort has refrigerators in the rooms

My DH, being in the supermarket business, has to check the place out so on our vacation, we tour the Publix
Back to CR to change, and head down to the pool, the slide is closed at this time of night, but the pool and hot tubs are open.

Sorry so blurry, I was trying out the night mode.

My sister asks if I saw the Loch Ness monster in the water by the Grand Floridian. I had no idea what she was talking about, until we hear music coming from Bay Lake. Then we saw the Loch Ness monster, here, right outside CR
It was the Electrical Water Pageant, what a surprise. We grabbed the cameras and ran down to the edge of the dock...leaving the kids in the dust trying to catch up to us.

Sorry, night mode again
What I learned: You really truly do need a steady hand or a tripod to use night mode
We hung out at the pool until around midnight, then head up to bed to dream of tomorrow....

Coming up: Day 3: Magic Kingdom

 

[RobinMarie]

" What I learned: I am definitely going to buy a bright colored set of luggage, maybe teal, or red"

I thought the same thing and bought red, you'd be AMAZED how much red luggage there is - go with teal!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 3: Magic Kingdom

The three men (I was tempted to write three wise men, but that's a far cry from the truth lol!) had decided to get up early and go to Dunkin Donuts for some "real" coffee, and breakfast. So Mickey called at 6:30 to tell Jimmy "up and at em" and Jimmy was out the door by 7. The plan was to have our breakfast and be at Magic Kingdom by opening.
By 8:30 they still were not back, so the kids and I headed down to the lobby to wait with the others. We were a little cranky, because, really how long does it take to go get coffee and donuts??
What I learned: If you want something to go quickly and smoothly, don't send the husbands (no offense to all you husbands who actually have a clue out there)
When they came back, we went down by the pool and had breakfast at the tables there.
After eating, it was time to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom....yes, I know it would have been faster to walk, but how often do you get to ride the monorail?
Security bag check had no lines and getting into the park was a breeze.
As we walked down Main Street USA (ahhh, I am at peace here) there were street performers singing and dancing to, what else, Walking Right Down the Middle of Main Street USA....I sang along.

At the hub, we hung a left and headed into AdventureLand. Alas, Aloha Isle was closed, no Dole Whips this early Jungle Cruise and the Tiki Room were also not open yet, and the Magic Carpets of Aladdin were down for refurbishment...no wonder this side of the park is empty.
What I Learned: AdventureLand opens at 10 am!
Pirates of the Caribbean was open, woo-hoo, so we rode that.
Then we moved onto FrontierLand to hit Splash Mountain twice and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad twice....every ride was a walk-on Then we back tracked to ride the Jungle Cruise. Ben was our skipper...he was pretty good-funny and dry, he delivered the script like it wasn't even a script.

That's Ben, but if you didn't enjoy the ride, he's Steve

My favorite part is always the same....the back side of water:

We stopped for Mickey Bars...and we learned out lesson, no Mickey Bar for Tommy. He didn't want anything at all-if my head was on right I would have thought to take him for a Dole Whip, maybe he's part of that camp! Then we headed toward Liberty Square to ride my all time favorite, the Haunted Mansion.

The pair-ups had me and Jimmy riding together, and we both at the same time tried to hug our hitch-hiking ghost, we only ended up knocking into each other!

After HM, we headed into FantasyLand, past the boarded up IASW, and we found the only line in the whole park...everyone was on line for Peter Pan, so we decided that's not where we needed to be. Round the corner and we walked right into Mickey's Philharmagic......what is there to say? Awesome. The kids loved it, the adults loved it, what's not to love? Donald Duck in the starring role, awesome!

The kids are outgrowing the wonder of FantasyLand (even if I'm not) so all we did there was Snow White's Scary Adventure and the Tea Cups....I was very disappointed to gloss over FantasyLand, but it was pretty hot, and the kids were not totally into it.

For anyone who wonders if the characters really do ride the rides, or if that is just for the advertisements, here's a pic of Alice and the Mad Hatter riding the Tea Cups.

After the Tea Cups, we were feeling hungry, so we decided to head back to the resort for lunch.

Coming Soon: The Afternoon in MK and Wishes...

 

[MamaKate]

Thanks for the great reports!

I love reports with photos and I'm really looking forward to the remainder of your trip!

Keep them coming !

,
Katie

 

[Henlady]

What a GREAT report. I love it. I almost feel like I was there with you. Can't wait for the next installment.

 

[lulu201]

Your trip report is FANTASTIC! Thanks so much for sharing your adventures with us!

 

[jlawall]

Hey LuLu,

Where in Bucks Cty?

 

[lulu201]

Hi! Bucks County is located northeast of Philadelphia; "downtown" is about 45 minutes away.

 

[april riddle]

Thanks Mary! After reading your post - I decided that I just had to stay at the contemporay - even just for one night before we move over to universal for a couple of days before we cruise! your reports are great!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Really enjoying your report so far! Great pictures, too! It must be crazy trying to stay organized with that many people!

 

[DisneyNutMary]

Day 3, Part 2: Magic Kingdom

After the Tea Cups, we were starving, so we decided to head back to the resort to eat, and decide the plan for the rest of the day. We hopped a monorail, yes, even though it is only one stop, how often does one get to ride a monorail? Not often here in New York!

We headed down to the Food n Fun Center, for lunch. Nothing special about the food here, and service is a bit slow. After lunch, we though about hanging out by the pool for a while, but we still had things we wanted to do in MK, and we figured we better just head back there.

Waiting for the monorail

Bobby and Tommy with the Partners statue

Monorail again, I can never get enough of it When we were back on Main Street, we decided to head right into TomorrowLand, because that's the one section we missed completely in the morning. Walking past Stitch gave me a pang on longing. I wanted so bad for it to be open, and here it was still surrounded by walls

Buzz Lightyear was the first ride we came to, so we hopped on. I don't remember my score, but I remember that it was a record high for me, but that's not saying much.
We saw that CoP was open, woo-hoo, that was a treat for us, so he queued up, and were on in 10 minutes I know it's a tired old attractions, that doesn't excite the kids much, but I enjoy it. There's such hope in it..."There's a great big, beautiful tomorrow, shining at the end of every day..."

Now it was on to Space Mountain, and no line, horray! Tommy is big enough to ride this year, which, of course was giving me heart palpitations....I was convinced my baby was going to fall out. On the long walk from sunlight to ride vehicle, I started sprouting feathers....I was ready to bolt from the line, and this is a ride I like!!!! Not sure why I was turning chicken, but I was. At the car, Jimmy told me to just shut up and get in, so he was in front, then me, then Wade. Lucy was in the car ahead of us with the kids. I heard her asking if I got on as the rounded the corner to the uphill. I was on, but not too happy about it. I was fine on the ride, not sure what the panic attack was all about, but I did turn down a second ride when the kids wanted to go again. Lucy went back with all the kids, James was her other adult, in case they were in separate cars.
What I learned: Sixteen is a good age, he was a big help with the younger kids.
Jimmy, Frank and I waited outside, under the WEDway PeopleMover, oh, excuse me, the TomorrowLand Transit Authority.

When they came off the ride, we headed toward the Indy Speedway, where I had my only experience all week with a line cutter. I watched as a woman came from the very end of the line, and excused herself all the way up to the ride loading area, telling everyone along the way that she was with a group. I am sorry, group or no group, you wait in line like the rest of us! That rude lady made me a little grumpy,when I got on the ride. And I was stuck with speed demon, Victoria, behind me, and Sunday driver, Anthony ahead of me...and steering in my own car was Swervealot Bobby....needless to say, I had a slight headache after that ride. :

Chilling outside Indy.
We sat outside the Speedway to rest up a little, and had sodas to cool off. Then we headed into ToonTown to ride the Barnstormer, which ended up being just me and the kids. That's a sneeze ride, I call it that because the ride lasts about as long as a sneeze. But the kids enjoyed it anyway. The it was on the see my main mouse, the big cheese, Mickey Mouse. We took some pics, and I hugged the love of my life (Mickey) then we sadly said goodbye and headed out.

Mickey's Mailbox

Bobby and Tommy with the Mouse

Even teenagers love the Mouse

 

[DisneyNutMary]

We decided to take the WDW Railroad around to Frontier Land, and were able to get on a waiting train. In FrontierLand, the kids were up for another ride on Splash, but my feathers were on, so I opted out. James Wade Frank decided to keep me company. Wade went to try and take their pictures on the big hill, the rest of us just sat in a shady spot and chilled out. I'm not sure if Wade got the picture, because he was still standing there waiting when they came up the hill from the exit.

I must add here, my nephew, Anthony, is a true Disney person....he just loves the place, and everything about it....my kind of kid Anyway, he and I were both insisting all day that we had to go to the Tiki room. So, I guess everyone just got tired of hearing us, we headed there next. I really like this show, I don't remember the original version, but I like this version alot.

After the Enchanted Tiki Room, Under New Management, we were tired, and it was getting late, so we walked back to the FrontierLand Railroad station to catch the train back to the front of the park.

Up the ramp to the monorail for the last time .Victoria wanted her turn to ride up front, so she asked, and it was available. She and Amanda would ride this time, since Amanda had never been, and I would be the adult to go with them. We took Tommy too, because he was following the girls around this whole trip, and always wanted to be with them.

Amanda, Victoria, and Tommy
We headed back to the Contemporary and up to our rooms, where we were able to watch Wishes from our balcony. Ooooh, ahhh. It was great. We had the music playing from the tv, and were watched from our own private box seats...we were even able to spot Tinkerbell as she flew down from the castle.

After Wishes, we got into our cars and headed to 192 for dinner. We were in the mood for Chinese buffet. We found a place, that everyone thought was okay, James and I thought it was yuck

After dinner, we stopped at Baskin Robbins for ice cream, then headed back to the resort for some night swimming.
Before bed, I packed up our stuff, and got everything ready for the drive to the port in the morning.

What I learned: When packing to go to the port, I just tossed out Tommy's and Bobby's underwear and socks, which were old and outgrown, and the clothes of Tommy's that were snug on him this week went out too. This left extra room in the suitcase for the souvenirs we picked up in the parks.

Coming up: The Disney Magic, Day 1