"There's a phone call for you. It's MICKEY." American Idols and Anniversaries! DONE!

[ZeroToHero]

"There's a phone call for you. It's Mickey." American Idols and Anniversaries!

Hey everyone! Glad you could join me for a fantastic recap of our 8 days in the place where magic lives.

If you want to read what made this trip go, I suggest you check out my PTR here:
http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2178888

It has chapter links, so you can read all the important (hah!) things without the fluff.

This is just a place holder, I promise you'll get all the good stuff soon!

Chapters:
Leaving home to "Welcome home!"
"Surprise!" video link "This seems a lot bigger than a studio..."
"Wait, 5 minutes? For real!?" - We enter the Magic Kingdom!
Day 1 comes to an end...
Hey, you want some free soda? Day 2: Future World!
No more soda!!!!!!! Pleaseeeee!
American Idol Sneak Peeks: SPOILER!!!!
Post #1
Post #2
Post #3
Post #4
Post #5
End of Sneak Peeks
And he just kept walking... until he was right in my face! Hollywood Studios, first day!
"Yes, we'll volunteer! Let's go!"
You will get wet, you may get SOAKED!!!! - Animal Kingdom, Part 1
Exactly how many pictures of ducks do we need? AK/Epcot day, part 2!
Potatoes, Leeks, and Pretzel Bread! Part 3 and conclusion to our AK/Epcot day!
The Audition Process!!!!
The Preliminary Show... We Have a Winner!!!!
Ending to American Idol Day - Still a Winner in My Eyes!
Best of Magic Kingdom Photopass
Best of Epcot Photopass
Best of Animal Kingdom Photopass
Best of Hollywood Studios Photopass
Best of American Idol Photopass
Lou's Version of American Idol Day
The Laugh Floor - "Why is it suddenly brighter? Oh. That's me up there."
Tom Sawyer Island, & See Ya Real Soon!
Our dinner at the castle... and the cake that came with it!
The Last Full Day Part 1- Test Track, Cologne, and Candy!
End of Last Full Day - Chef Remy, An Unforgettable Phone Call, and a Very un-Disney Experience.
Our last day - 1 book, 2 parks, 3 expeditions... and the end.

[wdwgirl03]

Hey! I kind of lurked on your PTR and followed along with you guys on Tammy's group PTR. Thought I'd join in!

American Idols...can't wait to hear about that. We LOVED that attraction.

[CharacterFan]

I look forward to reading about your trip.

[BelleBway]

I'm here! Very curious about how American Idol went.

[Mickey_Mom]

I'm here too!

[WDWRocksMySocks]

I'm joining in! I love reading all the late August TRs. Look forward to hear more.

[xoktenox]

Hey! Followed you over here from the big group PTR that was going on! Can't wait to hear all about your trip

[New England Eeyore]

Welcome home! I can't wait to read about all the details of the trip!!

[elphie101]

welcome back! I'm anxiously awaiting your TR!!!!

[jenseib]

You KNOW I'm here!

[joy13]

I'm in - I can't wait to hear all about it!

[ZeroToHero]

Glad you all could make it!

And now, without further ado:

So I last left you all right before we went to sleep on the night of the 24th.

I forget if I mentioned this, but my boss had messed up my schedule (Foreshadowing: This isn’t the last time he does this). I was supposed to be working that night, but he had someone covering for me, so I worked for 2 hours, and then Lou’s parents picked me up from work. He was there with his bag, ready to go, so we went to my house to eat dinner and get ready.

We finished all the packing (which basically meant putting a few more things in our checked bag, like his American Idol clothes and sneakers) and were all set except for a few essential items, and then it was off to bed!

I slept in my room, and Lou had my brother’s bunk bed for the night. And by night, I mean until 5 am. Yep. I was woken up at 5 am by Lou rapping his knuckles on my doorframe. Not the best way to get woken up… in fact, I was scared out of my mind, because I was having a creepy dream… , but hey, we’re going to Disney!!!!!

We got dressed, brushed our teeth, and were ready and downstairs before 5:30, which is when I wanted to leave. We took some photos downstairs, and then it was time to go! We pulled out of the driveway at 5:33 am, and left for Logan Airport.




Traffic was, of course, non-existent, so that was great. My dad went to park in the lot while we did self-check in and paid for our checked bag. After we finished that, my dad came back in, and walked the last 20 feet with us to security, which we breezed through.

I later realized I never had taken my liquids out of the bag, even though I had the little quart bag in there, all set to go…. Oops! Great job, Logan!

So we left my dad, and headed over to our gate – it took a longgg time. We had to go to Terminal A, go under Terminal A, and then back up to the other part of Terminal A. But we still go there about 45 minutes before our flight. So Lou went back to a Dunkin Donuts we passed and got me a Boston Cream and a Vanilla Frosted (or was it Chocolate?) and himself a Breakfast Sandwich. We had just finished and got back from washing up when it was time to board!

We were Zone 4, so that meant we were last, but we got in line just in time before they called Zone 4. It’s good be to early – we didn’t have to wait as long, and were able to get our bags into a compartment. We had the exit row for the way down, so we had plenty of room to stretch out, which was nice. Too bad we weren’t able to sleep, we were too excited! Or in Lou’s case, nervous. I am not able to say the same about this woman though:



Normally I never get scared while flying, but Lou kept saying “Most planes crash during take off and landing” so he kept freaking out, which got me a little worried – especially when we hit turbulence, which I usually love. And then we kept descending, which got Lou freaked out, but then the pilot came over the speaker and said they were trying to find a smooth pocket of air to fly in, since it was so turbulent.



We got a little snack pack on the plane, and it had a Sudoku game in it, which was really fun, and I finished it right before we landed. Right after we touched down, I started watching for Southwest planes, to wave to Mickey_Mom. I only saw one, but waved furiously at it. Luckily we were in a two-person row, and I was on the window!

After we got off our plane and got our bags, we took the tram over to the main part of the terminal


where we walked… and walked… and walked… and FINALLY saw the Magical Express area. We got our barcodes scanned, and the woman directed us to Bus C. So we started walking over to that line, and then we stopped. Bus C went to Pop! She had scanned the wrong barcode! So we went over to the other bus, whichever one went to Saratoga, and told that woman, who sent us through. We waited a few seconds, and then were directed right on to a bus.


It was great! No waiting (which is a reoccurring theme in our trip!!) A few minutes later, we left, and were on our way! After a very cute movie, we saw a beautiful sight:



And then we pulled into Saratoga Springs! Where we were the only ones to get off. Oops, sorry everyone else who had to wait for us! I gave the bus driver the first of many tip envelopes – he didn’t appreciate it compared with other people.. oh well.

We went to check in at the Carriage House – Lou went and sat on a round poof in the middle of the room while I checked in – our person was very helpful, but unfortunately, not well versed in the Front Desk Manual – she had only been working 3 months, and told us we couldn’t do a room share with our credit cards. I told her to check the Front Desk Ops manual or ask her manager – she did the second, who also said no. At that point, I gave up, because she said our room was ready, and I wanted to go show Lou the surprise!

She gave us our packet of information (which I never really looked at), our room keys, our room number, and our Anniversary buttons (which we saved to wear until the 31st).

Oh, did I mention how there were only two buildings in the whole resort I didn’t want to stay in? They are the Carousel buildings. And guess where we were? Yep. The Carousel. At this point, I didn’t have high hopes for the trip. No key sharing, awful location, but at least the surprise wasn’t ruined yet. I figured that the guy who drove us there would say something to mess it up, but nope, he didn’t say a thing.

So as we took the tram over to our room, we started looking around. The resort is gorgeous – springs everywhere, really nice color palette, and even though it’s spread out, it’s nice. Then our tram driver points out a bus stop – and then our room, right next to it! We were on the second floor, room 7225. We literally just had to walk up a set of stairs to get to our room – it was right in the entrance to that building, which was awesome. And to get to the bus stop, we just walked across the street! So when we were going to our room straight from a bus it was okay. If we weren’t doing that, it was a pain, but we eventually figured out how the bus system works.

For all buses except the Downtown Disney bus, we were the second stop, and the main building was the last stop. For the Downtown Disney bus, we were the third stop, with the main building being first. So whenever we wanted to get to our room from the main building, we just had to wait for the Downtown Disney bus. Unfortunately, we didn’t learn this until later. But that’s for later!

So as the tram driver pulls up to our building, he points to our room, and since we only had two carry-ons, we took the stairs up.

And you know what? I’m feeling pretty tired. So I think I’ll end here for tonight, and tell more tomorrow!

[ZeroToHero]

Just kidding!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOE_crflgJ4

Good night everyone!

[joy13]

Great first installment and video!! I love it "Isn't this bigger than a studio?" Cute!

[SunnieRN]

What an awesome start!! You two are such a cute couple!! Can't wait to read more!!