Yoopers Do Disney 12/1-12/5

[UP Disney]

Cast of Characters:

Me: A 45 year old Pal Mickey and WDW fanatic

DH: A 46 year old supportive husband who enjoys WDW as much as me much to my surprise

Pal Mickey Nicholas Mouse (nickname Nicky)

Pal Mickey’s fiancé Minnie Virginia Mouse (nickname Ginny)

Background:

I went to Disney with my family in August 1976 when it was just Magic Kingdom. We camped at Fort Wilderness. I went again on my high school’s senior class trip in March 1979. I’d been trying to get back ever since. I really wanted to take my two girls when they were younger. My dad gave me an ultimatum that I either took them by the summer of 1998 or he & mom were taking them. Unfortunately, he died in a car accident in the winter of 1997. I was too traumatized to even consider going to Disney at the time or trying to convince DH that we had the money to be able to afford it.

Fast forward to Fall of 2002. The neighbor asks if our eldest can go to Disney with them and their daughter during the Christmas holiday. She goes and comes back with fabulous stories and pictures. It reawakens my longing and awakens an interest in my DH.

Another year passes and in the Fall of 2003, we book a week’s trip for the first week in March 2004 for me, DH, DD15 & DD18. Based on our neighbors recommendation and research on the web, we decide to stay at POR. What an absolutely fantastic trip! It is all that I remember for MK and more than I dreamt for the parks that I had never experienced. DH loves the feel of POR because you have down time when you aren’t at the parks. He is an engineer and loves to look at the design aspect of the whole thing.

That first trip after we left, my DH says that he really enjoyed it but probably doesn’t have to go back for a couple of years. Three weeks later, he tells me one morning he dreamt about Disney and wants to know when we are going back. We plan and take a trip the 1st week of March 2005. Once again as we are at the airport leaving after the trip, DH tells DD19 that he probably doesn’t need to go back for a couple of years. So the girls & I start researching other destinations. Three months later, the dream returns one night and DH asks when we are going to return. We plan our last family trip for the 1st week of March 2006. By now, DD’s are 17 & 20. DD20 decides this is her last trip. DD17 wants one more so we book a trip for the last week of Feb. 2007 for DH, me & DD18. Me on the other hand decides that I want to go at Christmas and DH agrees. So we book a trip for Dec. 1-5, 2006.

While we were there in March 2006, Nicky joins our family. Before our trip, I had found the www.palmickey.net website and got hooked. I had to have a Pal Mickey and he had to have new clothes. He has also started traveling with other DIS friends on the Creative DISigns forum. You can read more about his and his cousins travels here. Since my return, he has gotten an extended wardrobe. In my shopping, there were so many cute girl clothes that I had to have a female to buy for. Since there isn’t a Pal Minnie, Nicky found a Minnie girlfriend, Ginny, when he visited WDW with a DDA (Disney Design Addicts from the DISboards) friend during one of his trips. The DDA decided that they had to get married since they would be living together in my house. You can see more about the plans for the wedding here. So our December trip turns into a romantic trip for DH & I as well as a wedding for Nicky & Ginny.

This is where the background ends and my trip report begins.

 

[Tinkaroo]

Good start so far, Vicki!

 

[OhMari]

Hi Yooper-, where did you get your count down timer.

And, where do you live in the UP. I have 2 kids at Northern MI, one is finally graduating the 16th of Dec. Please say it will stop snowing. My ds says it hasn't stopped since the 1st of December.

Hope you had a great vacation.

 

[May Queen]

that was awesome! I've never had a pal mickey, but they seem like fun to have around!
~May Queen

 

[UP Disney]

Hi Yooper-, where did you get your count down timer.

And, where do you live in the UP. I have 2 kids at Northern MI, one is finally graduating the 16th of Dec. Please say it will stop snowing. My ds says it hasn't stopped since the 1st of December.

Hope you had a great vacation.

We are in Iron Mountain which is a mile from the Wisconsin border. My DD21 is also at Northern MI. She went to the local community college for the 1st two years after high school - Bay de Noc Community College - which has a campus here in Iron Mountain. She has since transferred to NMU.

We got several inches of snow in October and then it was pretty nice until the last week. Much of the UP is currently under blizzard conditions. Iron Mountain is in what is considered the "Banana Belt of the UP". We are in the right place between the Lake Superior & Lake Michigan so that most of the action misses us. It's usually a little warmer than places north and south and we get less snow!

I am working on the 1st day of our trip offline and will copy & paste it soon. It was truly a magical trip. We didn't get an YOAMD but didn't need them because it was so fantastic without them!!!!

 

[UP Disney]

that was awesome! I've never had a pal mickey, but they seem like fun to have around!
~May Queen

They can be addicting. Just ask some of my DDA friends that I've sucked into my craziness!

 

[OhMari]

We are in Iron Mountain which is a mile from the Wisconsin border. My DD21 is also at Northern MI. She went to the local community college for the 1st two years after high school - Bay de Noc Community College - which has a campus here in Iron Mountain. She has since transferred to NMU.

We got several inches of snow in October and then it was pretty nice until the last week. Much of the UP is currently under blizzard conditions. Iron Mountain is in what is considered the "Banana Belt of the UP". We are in the right place between the Lake Superior & Lake Michigan so that most of the action misses us. It's usually a little warmer than places north and south and we get less snow!

I am working on the 1st day of our trip offline and will copy & paste it soon. It was truly a magical trip. We didn't get an YOAMD but didn't need them because it was so fantastic without them!!!!

We went through Iron Mountain a few times on our way to Northern, but we usually stay along the Bay and go through Marinette, Menmonee, Escanaba and then to Marquette. My sons roomate is from Iron Mountain, needless to say they didn't get along. The kid is very spoiled-but that is really OT!, LOL.

Your pal mickey stories sound pretty good.

 

[tinknme]

Look forward to reading more Vicki!

 

[UP Disney]

Our trip was booked through WDW for Dec. 1-5 back in June including our flights. We are scheduled to stay at POR which we love. When a code came out, we added the DDP so we are going to check it out to see if it is worth it for us. We are not big eaters. I'm sure we'll save money with what we get but I'm afraid we'll eat more than we should as we both have been doing a great job losing weight by making a conscious lifestyle change.

In August, within a three week period we receive notices that our flights have changed several times and we are losing 4 hours on arrival day and another 4 hours on departure day. By the last notice, I'm very unhappy and call Disney to request they change my airline. Our original flights are booked with a layover in Chicago and the new one has a layover in Cincinnati. This has significant impact on our eventual trip! My DH says it is divine providence. I tend to agree with him.

DH & I are residents of Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula, and as such are known as Yoopers. We get lots of snow and cold in this region - except for this year! We had snow in October and very little since. Two days before we are to leave, the temperature is in the 50's. The day before the temp drops to 15 degrees. Still no snow. However, they are predicting freezing rain and 12 inches of snow overnight in Chicago. Thank goodness, we are no longer flying into Chicago!!!!

The week before we leave is absolutely crazy for both DH & I. I have to drive to Lansing for a leadership conference scheduled 11/29. It is an 8 hour one-way drive. I’m also the Girl Scout Fall Sale coordinator and the Fall Sale product is going to arrive at my place on the morning of 11/30. I arrive in Lansing at 11:30 on 11/28, attend the leadership conference from 7:30-6:30 on 11/29, drive home and arrive at 1:30am 11/30. Thankfully, there is a time change from Lansing which is EST and home which is CST. At 8am on 11/30, I get a phone call that there is a delivery problem for the dropoff before mine so they are running late. The product arrives about an hour later than expected but sorting goes faster than expected. The leaders are there to pick up their product as scheduled so all goes smoothly with that. In the mean time, I’m trying to prepare for the Pal Mickey wedding, finish our tshirts and postcards, get everything ready for my DD18 who is staying home alone and pack our clothes.

DH is having to finish up his own projects. He teaches at the community college and the students are getting stressed because finals are only two weeks away plus he has an engineering firm so he has clients to take care of before leaving. He has most of his stuff out and ready to be packed. He just has to get them into the suitcase.

I call POR to make sure they have our room request. Alligator Bayou Bldg. 38, 1st floor. I'm told that the resort is 100% booked and that the AB won't be available. I'm a little disappointed but we have already found out that POR food court is going to be closed in Feb. so we are ready to try something new anyway. I tell them to change the room request to "NO parking lot view". POR is fantastic and we know we'll be happy as long as we don't have to look at and hear a parking lot.

DD18 is stressing out because we are leaving so late at night. It is a two hour drive to Green Bay which is where we are flying out of. She is very helpful once she gets home from school and Karate with anything we need her to do to get us out of the house as soon as possible.

We finally leave at 9:30 pm. Luckily, the roads are clear and it is an easy drive to Green Bay. We check into the motel which is a mile from the airport. We’ve stayed there before and really like the place. They check the flight we are booked on and everything is still on schedule while most Chicago flights are already delayed or cancelled. There's that divine providence!!!!! I set the alarm clock for 4:15am and call the front desk to get a 4:15 wake up call. We both fall into bed anticipating our arrival at WDW the next day!!!!

 

[UP Disney]

Arrival Day:

Boy, 4:15 comes early when you don’t get to bed until midnight. Luckily, Green Bay is a small airport so we don’t have to arrive hours early for our flight. The security area doesn’t open until 5am. Our flight is scheduled for 6am. We arrive at 4:55, check our bags, use the restrooms, go through security, and we are already boarding our flight. Our flight leaves on time and we arrive within 5 minutes of the scheduled time in Cincinnati. We have a two hour layover. We have plenty of time to use the restroom, take the shuttle over to the other terminal, have breakfast at Chick-fil-a which is a must according to many of my DDA friends, and board our next flight. Here’s Pal Mickey enjoying the best biscuits and gravy I’ve ever had (and I like biscuits and gravy).

We arrive at the Orlando Airport on-time, stop to use the restroom, and head to ME. We walk up to the counter, they send us to the line, we walk to the front of the line and they usher us on to the bus. Yes, you read that right. We got directly on a bus heading to POR!!!! I told you this trip was magical! We enjoy the video on the ME bus on the way to the resort. They drop off at OKW, SS and then on to POFQ & POR. Finally, we are home!!!! Another pleasant surprise is that they had been predicting rain and there is NO rain!!!!

Beware! This is the only non-magical part of the entire trip. You might want to skip this paragraph if you want to keep the magic alive! We walk inside and the line to check-in is LONG. Remember, I told you the resort was 100% booked. We are concerned that this does not bode well for our stay at POR. I am tempted to ask if we can switch to CBR but squelch the urge. We wait inline for at least half an hour. When it’s our turn, we get the one CM that I could tell was either new or not good. Whoever had been at his station, always took longer than the others. It was all I could do not to let the people behind us go first. He tells me that AB Bldg 38 is not available. I tell him I know this, that I called the day before and asked them to change it to “anywhere, but no parking view”. He says he has to check on something and walks away. He is gone so long that I ask DH if he went to take a nap. At the same time, I can read a note taped on the desk that reads something like “Don’t leave the guest at the desk, have someone come to you.” He finally returns and says he can accommodate our request but the room isn’t ready. It is guaranteed from 3pm-5pm. Hmmm. It is 3:15. We have to call a number to find out if our room is ready. He does know we’ll be in Bldg. 87. We decide to go eat lunch. DH got a hamburger and I got a philly steak sandwich. we got fruit bowls for dessert (2 CS). Afterwards, we call and the room still isn’t ready. She repeats the guarantee is 3pm-5pm. I ask her “Do you mean that I shouldn’t bother calling back until 5pm?” and she says yes. We decide that we’ll go rest in the loungers at the quiet pool beside our building. I call at 4:45 and our room is ready.

It is worth the wait. We are in a great location at Magnolia Terrace 2nd floor – room 8750. We have a great view of a courtyard and two windows. There is very little traffic past our room. More magic!!!! We have truly arrived at our happy place now!!!!!! We decide to clean up and head off on our adventure!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoying ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[NMAmy]

Well, of course, I HAD to check in on a Yooper trip report! My cousins grew up in Escanaba and I spent a lot of great summers up there on Little Bay de Noc.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Momof2princess]

Great start to your trip report. Can't wait to read more!!

 

[UP Disney]

Our 1st night

After freshening up, we head to the East Depot to catch a bus to the MGM studios to see the Osborne Lights. Within 5 minutes, our chariot arrives to whisk us away to continue our magical journey. On our way in, we have a photopass photographer take a picture of us in front of the hat. Then we stroll over to see the lights while stopping to snap some of our own pictures. Not very many of my personal photos turned out. I'm still learning to use my new camera that my DD21 bought me for my birthday last month. Here's one picture that did turn out.

Here is the link to my photopass pictures.

http://disneyphotopass.com/share.aspx?share=62e8dfce-6ab3-4208-ac54-8fff5778f0ae

The Osborne Lights are absolutely breathtaking. The show to music is absolutely phenomenal. We had to watch it from two different locations. One was under the arch looking toward the Christmas tree and the other was at the end of the street looking toward the Merry Christmas sign. Both were totally different shows. The Christmas tree was beautiful. They had a hidden Patriotic Micky that would flash toward the top during the show. We got some more photopass pictures and strolled back to the front of the park as we had reservations at Boma for 8:30.

Once again, we waited less than 5 minutes for a bus to take us to AKL. When we arrived, we wandered around to look at the decor and Christmas decorations at AKL. We have never been to the resort before. It still wasn't time for our reservation so we headed outside to check out the viewing area. There were several people sitting around a fire ring relaxing. We saw quite a few animals including a giraffe.

We had a wonderful meal at Boma. I was in an adventurous mood and tried all the main dishes (except the salmon) and the non-pasta side dishes. I enjoyed it all except for one dish which reminded me of goulash. I also had some of the chicken corn porridge. Then for desserts!!!! I tried about 8 different kinds. The zebra domes are all that people say. I can definitely see myself having those again. They were all very good. We were quite impressed with everything and it was a great use of 2 TS credits.

Afterwards, we walked around outside a little bit more before heading to the bus stop for Downtown Disney. The magic continued and we had a bus within a few minutes. We had the bus totally to ourselves so we had a nice chat with the bus driver. He had retired at the age of 38 and moved to Florida. He started part-time at Disney and fell in love with the job so now works full-time for them. He couldn't say enough good about working there.

We took a short stroll around Downtown Disney window shopping. We stopped at the $10 or less store and found a great buy. They had fleece pillow blankets with the 4 icons from the parks embroidered on them for $10 or 2 for $18. We bought two of them. They unfold to blankets but when not in use fold up into pillows. I'll try to remember to get pictures to post as I absolutely love them. We'll put them in our camper.

After some more window shopping, we headed to the boat for Port Orleans. This is one of our favorite things about staying at Port Orleans. It was a very relaxing trip back to the resort. It was 11:30 by the time we got to the room and we fell into bed from exhaustion since we'd been up and traveling for so many hours. But what a wonderful exhaustion it was!!!!! We're at Disney!!!!

 

[UP Disney]

Saturday Dec. 2 Morning

We are up early so that we can make it to Animal Kingdom close to opening. We have a relaxing breakfast at the POR food court and pay OOP. For being 100% full, we sure haven't seen the crowds.

We miss the Animal Kingdom opening by about 2 minutes. We stroll over to the Kilmanjaro Safari. I love seeing all the animals. The wait is less than 5 minutes to get on a jungle truck. There are lots of animals out and about. I finally get a decent picture of a mom and baby elephant and a giraffe walked right in front of the truck. Here are the pictures.

After the safari, we head to Rafiki's planet as we haven't been there in a while. Chuck enjoys the train ride. We wander around for a little while and then head back to the train. We get there just in time to get the next train. Magic!!!!

Tigger is that you?

We are just in time to see the Flights of Wonder show. We have never seen this because we have seen similar bird shows other places. We decided that we wanted to check it out this time. The hawk skimmed my head. It kind of scared DH. The eagle is absolutely beautiful. Of course, that could be because I have a thing about eagles. They are the most gorgeous creatures on earth! Luckily, I live in an area where I get to see them at least 1/2 dozen times in the summer months.

We want to see the Nemo show but we have about 40 minutes before it starts. I really don't want to stand in line so we head off to Dinosaur. DH loves this ride. It is once again practically a walkon. We can't believe our luck. The picture is cute but we decide not to buy it.

Next we head to the Nemo show. All the seats are taken but there is standing room in the back. We have the best place in the house! We are at center stage at the top. People are sitting in front of us so we don't have to crane around them. No one is behind us so we can move around as needed so our legs don't get cramped. The Nemo Show is AMAZING! I have never seen a puppet show like this and wondered how anyone would be interested in seeing a person on stage holding a puppet. Wow, was I wrong!!!! It followed the movie very closely. The actors were amazing and the puppetry was out of this world. If you haven't seen this, make sure you schedule it during your next trip.

We head back to Tusker House for lunch. A couple of DDA friends may be meeting us there. We are running a few minutes late so we just missed one. The other left a voice message saying she didn't get in the night before after the MVMCP until late so they are going to skip lunch. DH & I share a chicken meal. The vegetables and mashed potatoes were delightful. We use a CS for this meal.

We head to the front of the park to meet some DDA friends at the Rainforest Cafe. I just am popping in to say hi (not eating a second meal ). It is great to meet a couple of the ladies that I chat with regularly on the Creative DISigns forum. They have already been seated so the hostess tells me where I can find them. I try to make sure I understand where they are and she says "You'll have no trouble spotting them." I had to laugh. How do I tell this woman that I'm meeting two people that I've only ever seen pictures of. I mean after all that is what I've been warning my kids against since the oldest was 5!

We then head back to the resort so that we can rest before the big wedding. If you haven't read the plans already, you might want to take this time to catch up. It's a story in itself. You can read the wedding plans here. Ginny has been staying in the resort preparing all day. Nicky has been out touring with us.

 

[UP Disney]

Hi Yooper-, where did you get your count down timer.

And, where do you live in the UP. I have 2 kids at Northern MI, one is finally graduating the 16th of Dec. Please say it will stop snowing. My ds says it hasn't stopped since the 1st of December.

Hope you had a great vacation.

I forgot to answer the ticker question. I use the one at http://v50.net and just use disboards smilies for in front & back.

 

[OhMari]

I forgot to answer the ticker question. I use the one at http://v50.net and just use disboards smilies for in front & back.

Thanks.

 

[wdwtravels]

Lovin' your report Vicki! Sounds like you had a magical trip - keep 'em coming... so I can read yours instead of writing mine!

 

[UP Disney]

Preparing for the wedding

After a short rest at the resort, it is time to make the final preparations for the wedding.

First, Minnie & I have to finish up the wedding favors. Minnie has found the cutest princess slipper. She was hoping to have some red & green m&m’s but the weather is too warm and we are afraid that they will melt in transit. She decides that they’ll have to go without any sweets and hopes this is ok since everyone attending the wedding will be going on the Fireworks cruise and there are snacks provided before hand. Kate (Julia & Nicks Mom) has made wedding matchbooks with mints to include. Minnie absolutely adores them. The last addition is a set of gold rings. All of this is placed in a little drawstring bag.

Minnie then got herself dressed. Chuck kept Mickey out of the way so that she had privacy. She made sure she had her something old, something new, something borrowed & something blue. She had an old penny that was pressed with Mickey’s impression that she wore in her slipper along with the threepence from Clare, her dress & veil was her something new, she wore one of my pearl bracelets for a necklace as her something borrowed and she wore a blue ribbon as her as a garter. She was a very beautiful bride. She made sure she had her bridal bouquet and she was dressed & ready to go.

Mickey, being a boy, took much less time getting dressed. He threw on his tux, made sure he had the wedding bands and he told me he was ready. The top hat was bothering him so he decided not to wear it. However, he forgot to remind me that his tux needed some adjustments. Luckily, I had a little sewing kit so that I could make them on the bus on the way to dinner.

Chuck & I put on our wedding finery. Matching tees with a picture of the two wedding couples with the fireworks cruise theme. The wedding couple had their own matching tees to wear on the fireworks cruise after the wedding.


Design on our red tees (Don't worry! All but Ginny are stand-in actors for this picture. The grooms did not see the brides before the wedding in their wedding finery).

Minnie & I made sure we had everything packed. Wow, we had a lot of stuff to keep track of. We needed the CD player & CD with speakers, the wedding favors, clothes for the fireworks cruise, wedding bands for Mickey & Minnie as well as their own, and a whole host of other things. We also had glow in the dark necklaces to pass out to everyone for the fireworks cruise.

After we thought we had everything collected, we left for dinner with Kevin & Stephanie at Concourse Steakhouse. Our reservation was for 5:30 pm. Once we walked out the door, we decided if we forgot anything, we’d have to live without it! Now, I can relax and just have fun!

 

[UP Disney]

We met a DISboards DDA friend Stephanie & her sister for dinner at Concourse Steakhouse. We really enjoyed our dinner with them. We laughed and laughed. It was the first time we have ever met in person though we have talked often on the phone. All of us were on the DDP. We started off all ordering a different style of smoothie so that we could try them all. They were all delicious. However, I liked the one I ordered best (now if I could only remember what that one was ). For appetizers, Chuck ordered the chicken wings and I ordered the onion rings. Both were really good. We all ordered the filet mignon as our entree. Chuck & I ordered it medium while Kevin & Stephanie ordered theirs medium rare. It was a little disappointing to me as it was overdone for me. For dessert, Chuck got the seasonal cheesecake which was butterfinger. He really enjoyed that. I got the key lime pie. They were delicious. However, I was way too full!!!!!

When we finished, I ran to the gift shop to buy Chuck & I pirate Mickey ears. Kevin & Stephanie already had theirs purchased. When I got back, Stephanie had Jennifer (bear74), another DDA friend, on the phone. She was at the Mickey statue waiting for us and wanted to make sure she was in the right place. So we headed down for the wedding.

When we got outside, Jennifer handed me the phone. Chanon (yellowfish78) was on and posting in real time on the DDA thread. By the time we got down there, Terry (tinker1bell) was there. Since Kristine (kristinen) and her family weren't there yet, we chatted for awhile as we were slowly setting up for the wedding.

Terry brought the ring pillow. Wow! It is absolutely gorgeous. Stephanie also surprised me with a flower basket. We asked Olivia to be the flower girl. We told her that she needed to pretend that she was dropping the flowers. However, she wanted to have something real so she collected leaves to drop.

After a little while, we realized that we would have to start without Kristine and hope that she would arrive before too long. I had promised her that the wedding wouldn't interfere with the Grand Gatherings Fireworks Cruise that she had spent so much time putting together for us! Next, the wedding of the century!