Where Sparty Meets The Mouse New Years 2011 TR -**NEW 4/17 Arriving at MK**

[ashleighbass06]

Spartans Going to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando? You can Count me in!
So, it was announced today, at about 8:00pm that my dear Spartans are going to the Capital One Bowl on January 1st. As many Spartan fans are upset, we went that bowl 2 years ago and the year before that the Champs Sports Bowl which is also at the Citrus Bowl, I am ecstatic! Why you ask? This means, I HAVE AN EXCUSE GO TO DISNEY!

And to make things even better, over Thanksgiving I found out that my Aunt & Uncle's Condo on the beach is only an hour from Orlando. So what does that mean for two, poor MSU fans? FREE LODGING! Yes, this means not staying ON PROPERTY (or really that close), but you know what, the savings allow us to go to Disney, so I'll take it!

THE CAST:
(I couldn't decide between these two pics, so here are both)

Chris & I at Munising Falls by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr


Chris & I in the Bean by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Me: Ashleigh (22), the extreme Disney nerd who heard Orlando and thought, "Now, I've got an excuse to take DBF to Disney!" I am a Child Development Major graduating this Spring (and trying to convince my mom to take me on a graduation trip in May...still working on it). If I counted correctly, this will be my 16th trip to the World and probably the 11th one where I was the planner (yes, as a child I had a hand in planning our WDW vacations). I love photography and promise this TR will be filled with pictures!

DBF: Chris (22). We've been dating since we were 14 and I'm just waiting for an engagement ring lol. He's graduating in a couple of weeks with a degree in Music Composition. Lets just say, he thinks my Disney thing is insane. This will be his 4th trip to Disney and the 2nd because of the Capital One Bowl (He was in the Spartan Marching Band in 2008 when we last played in this bowl and they got 1 day free to explore the parks in exchange for taking buses instead of flying).

Are there any other Spartans out there? Anyone going to the Game?
YAY! I'm going to Disney...and SOON!

 

[ashleighbass06]

Pre-Trip Report
12/10: Update & Itinerary
12/12: Bowl Background
12/15: Decisions, Decisions, and HELP!
12/26: So many attractions, so little time
12/28: Trip Reporting LIVE!
1/4: I'm Home!

Day 1
1/6: One Long Drive

Day 2
1/17: The Citrus Parade
1/22: GPS + WDW = BAD
1/29: We made it...or did we?

Day 3
2/3: New Years Eve!

Day 4
2/13: Capital One Bowl
2/23: Dinner at Kona
3/18: Life Update & Wishes!

Day 5
4/17: Arriving at the Magic Kingdom!

2/15: BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

 

[ashleighbass06]

As I said in the first post, nothing is set in stone and really this whole thing wasn't set in stone until around 7pm today when Chris confirmed he get the time off work (He is working his way up the totem pole at a Biggby Coffee franchise and he was told that after he graduates, which is like next week, they will give him a full-time, salaried, management position, so we were unsure they would let him take time off)! So this trip is a go!

And you may have noticed that our friend Lisa has been removed from the Cast list. She is still going, but with her family and has to drive down with her grandparents, so wish her luck lol. She did say that she was interested in Disney, so we may meet up with her for our WDW day if our schedules align.

Itinerary (Updated 12/15)

December 28/29: Begin driving. We haven't decided if we want to leave the evening of the 28th and drive through the night first or leave the morning of the 29th...I think I'll probably be to excited to fall asleep that night anyway so we might as well start driving

December 30: 11:00 Citrus Parade
Then Orange picking at Ivey Groves
Drive to my Aunt's Condo in Indialantic (near Cocoa Beach)

December 31: I'm thinking of ringing in the new year on the beach (if its not freezing). This will be our 1st NYE together in 3 years. Chris was in the Spartan Marching Band for the past 2 seasons and both years they had New Years Day bowl games (not that I can complain from a fan standpoint, but spending NYE w/out your significant other is no fun) so he was in Orlando two years ago for the Capital One Bowl (more on that later) and last year was San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl. So we will have to do something special
January 1: 1:00 Capital One Bowl in the Florida Citrus Bowl (Bought our tickets today ). Maybe tailgate before w/Lisa's family if they're doing something.
I got us 6:20 ADR at Kona and afterwards we will watch Wishes on the beach which I have never done before, but I think this would be the perfect time. Afterwards I'm thinking either shopping at DTD or hanging out at the Boardwalk. And no I haven't told Chris about this yet, especially since I booked it before we knew he could get off work. It would just add to my craziness in his mind.

January 2: WDW DAY!!! We decided on Park Hoppers so we're going to do MK in the morning and EPCOT in the evening for a delicious WS CS dinner & Illuminations! Afterwards we will head home and stop once we get out of Florida somewhere for the night.

Something I would like to do (this may sound weird) is go pick oranges. I love doing U-pick up here for apples in the fall and strawberries in the spring. Chris & I even picked cherries in Traverse City during the Cherry Festival, so much fun! When I find out where my aunt & uncle's condo is, I will have to see if there is an orange grove near...or are they even in season now? Has anyone ever done this before?

Hopefully I will fill you in on more details soon! Florida in 3 weeks!

 

[ashleighbass06]

So, the Spartans (#9) are going to the Capital One Bowl and playing Alabama (#16). And we already have our tickets!!!

Here's a pic from the one other football game I went to this year. MSU vs. Florida Atlantic (its in Boca Raton. I think I want to go there for Grad School lol) at Ford Field

MSU vs. FAU by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

As I mentioned in the first post, a lot of Spartan fans are not hapy going to the Capital One Bowl. For those of you who are not Spartan or Big Ten fans, I will fill you in on the details.

1. The big point. We were BIG TEN CHAMPS this year (tied with Wisconsin and Ohio State) and we are not going to a BCS game. Our record for the year is 11-1, we only lost to Iowa (and it was kind of a blow-out, but we don't need to talk about that) but we BEAT Wisconsin (#5). We did not play Ohio State (#6), which is where the trouble comes in. Even though we beat Wisconsin, Wisconsin is going to the Rose Bowl because they have a higher ranking. Ohio State took the other Big Ten BCS bid and is going to the Sugar Bowl. So that leaves us, poor MSU that no one cares about, Big Ten Champs, 11-1 and going to the Capital One Bowl. When we were watching the Bowl Announcements and ESPN DBF almost threw something at my TV. It was funny. I do have to admit that they showed a good amount of people scoring on Michigan to make up for some of the frustration.

2. This is the point that I touched on earlier: This is the third bow game in four years that the Spartans have played at the Citrus Bowl (the exception is 2010 at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio). While we shouldn't complain because going to 4 bowls in 4 years is awsome for us Spartans, you have to feel kind of bad for the seniors in the band, cheerleaders, etc. who keep coming back to the same place (and from what I've heard its not the nicest stadium).

Here's a pic from the 2009 Capital One Bowl:

Image is courtesy of Zimbio.com

But, I'm not complaining, we're going to Florida and I get a little Disney fix! Thank you for listening to my football rant. I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment if you agree/disagree. I'd love to hear your opinions.

Next update: Did we come to any conclusions (tickets, hotel, etc)?

 

[ashleighbass06]

Today was my last final so I am DONE FOR THE SEMESTER!!!! This means I can devote all my time to planning my nearing vacation (15 Days!)!!

So I found out that my Aunt's condo is in Indialantic, near Cocoa Beach, but unfortunately about and hour and a half from Orlando. Basically, this means there is NO coming and going! We are going to try to minimize our driving so this is our new plan:

30th, arrive in Florida, Citrus Parade at 11. Afterwards, picking Oranges at Ivey Groves in Kissimmee. DBF is a nature guy and he's REALLY excited about this.

Still no plans on the 31st (probably something with the fam). Plans for the first remain the same. For the 2nd We decided to get Hopper passes! We want to do the Magic Kingdom in the morning and then do EPCOT in the evening for Illuminations (and some delicious WS dinner...). DBF has never ridden Soarin' so we want to try to squeeze that in...any suggestions? I got a subscription to TouringPlans, so we will have Lines to help but there's no TP for evening EPCOT 1/2 day w/Soarin lol...

Probably another one or two updates before I leave (maybe more if I'm bored lol, just being honest)!

 

[ashleighbass06]

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas with some excellent Disney gifts! I didn't get anything Disney but I did get a bag of Snowman poop (my family has an odd sense of humor )

So, I've been trying to figure out what our plan for the parks will be. We have one day and touringplans.com has it as a crowd level of 8 (and I have to say that will probably be shocking because when I was there in March it was an average of 3 and our DHS day was a 0.3 ). So, I know it would be impossible to expect to do everything. I do plan on using Lines.

I have never seen the Magic Kingdom Welcome Ceremony so we will begin our day at MK at rope drop. Space Mountain is Chris' favorite so that will probably our first stop. Splash Mountain is my favorite but depending on the weather, we may have to skip it.

We will have to ride the TTA and I'd like to do the Jungle Cruise (I hadn't ridden it since I was little and I laughed like crazy on my March trip). I kind of want to ride Dumbo, but I don't think Chris would go for it. Chris has never been on the Walt Disney World Railroad (he didn't even know that was a thing) so we will probably have to do that too...

Then we will head over to EPCOT where I want to do Soarin' for sure and if possible I'd like to ride TT. Then, I figure we will browse WS before Illuminations.

I'm probably being too ambitious for MK, but I'm not used to this sized crowds and such little time. If you had one day in the World, what would be on your MUST DO list?

 

[ashleighbass06]

Hey everyone, I'm leaving in the morning!

Yes, I'm not sure I will be sleeping tonight, but I wanted to let you know I am an avid twitter-er and this journey will be no exception. So, what does that mean? You can follow me LIVE during my trip at @bassclarinetgrl. Chris is also on twitter but he doesn't update nearly as often as I, but he is @chrismowers. And Lisa is on her way and tweeting like crazy at @lisaann2.

Also, I am planning on bringing my computer and Chris has a Palm Pre which doubles as a mobile hotspot (pretty cool, right?) so I may come on here to comment or post if I have time. I may also upload pics (I am an avid photographer) to my Flickr page for you to check out!

So excited! Orlando, here I come!

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm in! I didn't know you had a PTR going or I'd have been here sooner

Can't wait to hear about your trip and GO SPARTANS!

 

[ashleighbass06]

I'm in! I didn't know you had a PTR going or I'd have been here sooner

Can't wait to hear about your trip and GO SPARTANS!

Yay for joining! I won't be spending too much time on the game... ouch!

 

[ashleighbass06]

Happy New Years Everyone!

I got home late last night and I'm so sad that my trip is over! What's even sadder is that its cold and snowing here! I miss Florida already!

January 4 by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

I've been working on editing and uploading photos and I will start the trip report soon!

 

[eeyore7360nc]

Ashleigh. I am currently in Disney right now. I did not get here until Sunday, but I did watch the game on Saturday. However I was rooting for the other team. I am also going to try to take a picture a day. BTW I am aka Nikpowell on flickr. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[ashleighbass06]

Ashleigh. I am currently in Disney right now. I did not get here until Sunday, but I did watch the game on Saturday. However I was rooting for the other team. I am also going to try to take a picture a day. BTW I am aka Nikpowell on flickr. Thanks for the kind words.

You're welcome! I always love checking out other photographers Have fun in Disney (and lets not talk about that game )!

 

[ashleighbass06]

The only thing I'm doing right now is procrastinating (I am leaving to go back to school tomorrow and on Saturday I have the Michigan Teacher Certification Test and I should probably be studying lol) so lets start this trip report!

Since we basically spent two and a half days on the road, this trip report would be really short if I didn't mention the drive at all. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures on the way down but, lets start there

But first, here's todays photo of the day:

Snow on Branches by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Day 1: December 29
Wednesday we planned to be on the road by 6am . This was no problem for Chris as he had been starting work at 5:30 all week...Me? I was on vacation and sleeping in until 10. So, needless to say I wasn't up at 4:30 making breakfast like someone else .

But, we actually got on the road earlier than planned. We got to Ohio before the sun was up, which was bizarre, and we stopped for coffee in Toledo at Biggby (have I mentioned that I love Biggby Coffee? You non-Michiganders are really missing out).

I get lucky on these long drives because Chris LOVES driving. He will drive for hours on end and this day he only asked me to drive because he had to do some work. But the section that I drove had the WORST traffic! I started in southern Kentucky and when I got about half-way through Tennessee I got caught behind a patch crew. We barely went over 10 mph for about an hour. At one point it went down to one lane during a 5% downward grade. I had to get in front of a UPS truck (and I mean a semi-truck pulling two trailers) and I started to freak out! The brakes were squeaking and he was less than a foot from my bumper! It was terrifying!

But, I eventually made it out of it and made Chris drive again . Honestly, my ankle hurt from having my foot on the brake for that long (maybe I'm just a wimp...who knows lol). After that, there wasn't really any more trouble. It slowed down around Atlanta, but that's to be expected.

We stopped for dinner at Bojangles. I don't know if any of you have ever eaten there, but Chris' family showed it to us when we were in North Carolina and now we have a hard time driving past one...There aren't any in Michigan and we didn't know they were in Georgia either, so that was a nice surprise for the long drive.

We were really starting to get tired so when we hit the Florida border we started looking for a place to stay. We made it to Gainesville and I swear we were the only Michiganders still on the road. We had passed a bunch of them on the way, but I think they were all asleep at this point. We were the only crazy ones still awake. Anyway, we stayed at the Paramount Plaza Hotel in Gainesville and woke up the next morning to be on the road early and make it to Orlando by 11:00.

Up Next: The Citrus Parade

 

[ashleighbass06]

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everyone! I am totally enjoying my day off from classes and placement in the elementary school and I hope the rest of you who have the day off are enjoying it too. For those of you who had to work today, I'm sorry.

I haven't taken my POTD yet, but here is the one from yesterday:

Sunrise in the Woods by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Day 2
When I left off, we were leaving Gainesville for the Citrus Parade. All the drive down I was tweeting our location using the hashtag #orlandohereicome, but when we got off at the exit for Orlando I switched it to #orlandoimhere! lol I was SO excited to finally have made it to our destination! It was time for our vacation to finally begin! We parked in a residential street in downtown Orlando (so we didn't have to pay, of course) and we were both pretty suprised at how nice the houses were. We had heard from friends who had come to Orlando for bowl games before about how dirty the city was. This area must be the exception. So, we walked to the parade route (passing many Spartan fans, one of which was a professor of mine, so that was kind of odd) and we knew we made it when we saw all the people lined up on the street.

Since we drove all the way from Gainesville, we were pretty early so we wandered around downtown for a bit but eventually settled on a spot just before the parade began.

We were across the street from the news building that scrolled headlines throughout the parade. One of them was how Universal had already reached capacity twice that week and it was Thursday.

The parade began with motorcycle police - one which had Alabama flags and the other had Spartan flags on the back of his bike.

Then came this guy:

Orlando Orange by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

And of course, the bagpipers:

And the float that had me jumping up and down like a child - Tangled:

Rapunzel & Flynn by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr (I love that the oranges are Mickeys!)

The Universal Float had I Love Lucy (among others):

And Then:

SPARTY!!!

Followed by the SPARTAN MARCHING BAND!!!

My friend Brian is in there somewhere (He plays the Tuba)

My favorite shot from the parade:

MSU, We Love thy Shadows... by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

And who can forget the jet made out of oranges...

Now we were all pumped up for the game the (if you were comparing bands in was no contest, IMHO)! It was time to walk back to the car

Downtown was still decorated for Christmas. It was really nice.

Up Next: GPS + WDW = BAD

 

[ashleighbass06]

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! Mine has been stressful but exciting! I have a couple of Disney-related projects that I have been working on and I can't wait till they are complete so I can tell you about them (Just thought I'd tease you a little )!

Again, I have been too lazy to take today's photo yet. Here is yesterday's (I am glad this turned out so beautifully because it was SO COLD out yesterday. I'm talking single digits! Brrr!)

Beaumont Tower in Winter by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Day 2 Cont.
Anyway, when I left off last we were leaving the Citrus Parade. We got in the car and I programmed my Garmin to take us to the Magic Kingdom (to buy our park tickets so we wouldn't have to wait in line on our park day). I just listened to an episode of WDW Today where they said that GPS(es?) work fine on Disney property. I don't know, maybe that's true for some. Not mine. Well, unless you count the Shipping and Receiving center as the Magic Kingdom.

I should've known something as not right when we went past the Reedy Creek Fire Station, but we kept going. We eventually turned around, silenced GPS lady, and followed the signs to the Magic Kingdom. My advice would be that if you are staying off property and want to use a GPS, once you get to Disney property follow the signs, not your screen.

Anyway, we eventually made it to the TTC and bought our tickets.(Tip: There is a pick-up/drop-off area that you can go to without paying for parking if you will be less than 15 minutes. Just tell the guy at the gate they you're dropping someone off and follow the signs.)

Then, we headed to Downtown Disney for lunch. The first three lots were full, so we parked by the West Side.

It was packed and we were starving so we pushed and shoved our way to possibly my favorite CS restaurant on Disney property: Earl of Sandwich. I had seen a bunch of pics on here of the Holiday Sandwich so I knew I was getting that:

Holiday Sandwich by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr
It had turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce and I am very temped to try to recreate it at home. Sadly, its only available for a limited time.

Chris had the Hawaiian Barbecue which had ham, grilled chicken, Hawaiian BBQ sauce, Swiss cheese and pineapple. Sadly he started eating before I could take a picture. He did let me have a bite and it was so good I considered giving him half of mine for half of his...but in the end I kept my sandwich.

Then we were in search of vegan desserts at Babycakes NYC. Once again, I had heard about this place on a lot of podcasts, so I had to check it out. For those of you who haven't heard of it, its a vegan, gluten-free, soy-free bakery located in the old McDonald's building with Pollo Campero. I had a brownie with mint frosting:

Babycakes NYC by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr
Let me tell you, this was REALLY good (expensive, yes. But good)! And while the brownie part was good, the frosting was definitely the best part of this dessert. And no, you couldn't tell it was missing all that stuff! Chris had a cupcake (once again he started eating before I could take a picture) and he said that the cake was OK, but the frosting was delicious! If you have any of these dietary restrictions, I would definitely say you should check this place out and if you don't go try something anyway. You can't go wrong with cupcakes, right?

After we were sufficiently full the shopping began. I wanted to check out the new spice & tea area at Mickey's Pantry and while it was cool, everything was too expensive for me. It was small quantities and high prices.

The next place we hit was Pin Traders. While I don't trade pins and woudn't really say that I'm into pins, I have bought at least one pin each trip since 2000. And when I get home I put it on my Millennium Celebration hat. So, what pin did I buy this time?

New Years 2011! (Photo was taken with Chris' phone...for some reason his camera is really blurry )

We made our way back to the West Side and I stopped in D-Street to check out this Vinylmation thing...It was PACKED in there but I eventually decided to purchase one from the Parks Series 3. This is what I got:

At this point we were tired and we headed back to the car to make our journey to the beach.

Up Next: We made it...or did we?

 

[dawnbu40]

Nice updates! I love that Flynn and Rapunzel were in the parade. How fun!
I love the pictures of the band! Very cool shadow pic

Looking forward to more

 

[francis6306]

Wow... Just one day at the World?? My husband is getting his DMA in conducting, so we're a band family ourselves. We're at USM this year (He'll be done with classes in MAY! Praise the LORD!) and they went to St. Pete for the Beef O'Brady Bowl. I have no understanding about the Bowl system (although, as a UGA fan, I have to be grateful for Auburn for keeping the National Championship in the SEC.. crazy SEC love I guess) and I cannot ever understand how anyone gets any of them!

We were in WDW earlier in DEC, just started my TR on it. It was my husband's first trip to the World, and I think I have him fully convinced.

 

[ashleighbass06]

Nice updates! I love that Flynn and Rapunzel were in the parade. How fun!
I love the pictures of the band! Very cool shadow pic

Looking forward to more

Besides the SMB they were probably my favorite part! And thanks, that is one of my favorite pics!

Wow... Just one day at the World??

Only one day in the world was tough...I'll just have to go back soon!

We were in WDW earlier in DEC, just started my TR on it. It was my husband's first trip to the World, and I think I have him fully convinced.

LUCKY! I'm still working on it!

 

[ashleighbass06]

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love my Disney podcasts and on Monday you can hear me talk about this trip with the crew of the Be Our Guest Podcast in Episode #303 (you can find it on itunes or click this link)

I am still working on those projects that I hinted to in the last post but more on that later.

Today's photo of the day comes from when I had to rescue Chris after his car ran out of gas when he had an emergency at work bright and early this morning:

Snow on Campbell Hall by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Day 2 Cont.
When I left off, we were leaving DTD and heading to the beach. I called my aunt to let her know we were on our way and she was confused...she thought we were getting in the next day. It didn't end up being a problem so we made the hour and a half drive for the first time.

Soon we pulled into the condo complex and I tried to call my aunt to make sure we were in the right place and I got a busy signal. Weird, right? We tried with Chris' phone. Same thing. I tried to call Chris and got a busy signal. After sitting in the car for about ten minutes we decided to wander around and try to find them (I should mention that we needed their key to get in the building). That's when my aunt and cousin come running from the sidewalk. They were trying to call me and were getting a busy signal so they were trying to flag us down from the road

When we got all settled we exchanged Christmas presents (it was Dec 30, remember?) and had dinner. Then, we went down to the beach with flashlights to hunt for crabs. We didn't find any, though.

Chris & Andrew (my cousin, 7) had fun playing flashlight tag on the beach while I caught up with my aunt. We were exhausted so we hit the hay early and prepared for a relaxing beach day the next day.

The condo:

Up Next: New Years Eve

 

[ashleighbass06]

Well, I survived Snowpocalpse 2011 (and I hope all you other midwesterners are OK too!) and I enjoyed the first MSU snow day in 30 years! And what did I do on my snow day, you ask? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! And it was amazing! Well, I did venture out to take some pictures but I was back inside drinking hot cocoa in less than 15 minutes!

Yesterday's POTD:

Blizzard in Lansing by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

and today's:

MSU Winter Wonderland by bassclarinetgrl, on Flickr

Anyway, onto the trip report!
Day 3
The third day of our trip was New Years Eve and we had no where to be! We slept in (I forgot to mention that Chris was sleeping on the balcony. Yes, it was only like 40 degrees at night but he had a winter sleeping bag and an air mattress and he was in heaven. My family thought he was insane) and they took us to Friendly's for breakfast.

I had never been to a Friendly's before (I just did a search and the closest one to me is in Maumee Ohio...) but I swear their kid's menu must have a warning that says "May cause cavities"! Apparently my family went there the morning before and Andrew (7) had chocolate pancakes with chocolate ice cream and a chocolate milkshake! FOR BREAKFAST! WHAT?! This time his parents made him get something healthier but they did allow him some sort of blue cotton candy beverage...I don't know. I mean, my food was good, but I couldn't believe the kid's menu. The theme of this restaurant must be parents fighting with their children.

After breakfast, Chris & I decided to take a trip to Cocoa beach because Chris had never been to the Ron Jon Surf Shop. My aunt wanted to come with us but my uncle didn't want to go so he convinced her that it was an hour drive (google maps said 25 minutes, but I wasn't going to argue) so Chris & I took the journey by ourselves.

I ended up buying a cute zip-up hoodie. When we were leaving we saw a fruit stand and decided to stop. We left with 2 bags of oranges, a bag of grapefruit, and a jug of fresh-squeezed orange. Gotta love Florida citrus!

On the way back to the condo we passed Patrick Air Force Base and saw these two huge planes!

Continued in next post