Blue Skies
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2000
Cast of characters:
Blue Skies (aka Melissa) 28 and trip planner (6th trip)
DH - Robin turned 31 this trip (2nd trip)
DS - Alex 2 1/2 (1st trip)
Mom - 60 something (4th trip)
Well I guess I should start first be explaining the title I am giving these trip reports. Don't get me wrong, this was a fantastic trip. It just had some bumpy spots along the way.
This adventure actually started a year ago when while having lunch at the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America my Mom from out of the blue said, "How would you like to go to Disney World?" She didn't have to ask twice. My Mom offered to cover all expenses and she let me do all of the planning! A disney lovers dream come true!
All my Mom asked was that after the stay at Disney that we drive down to Boca Raton (where we used to live) so she could visit some friends.
This is the same time I found the DIS. I began spending hours soaking up all of the information people were willing to give. I relaized I needed a MKC card and I neede to make reservations soon. I was able to score MKC discount at the Beach Club. My Mom's favorite park is EPCOT so I thought she would enjoy the location. Eventhough I didn't have a budget per say this trip, I was trying to be as economical as possible. We all shared a standard room.
I spent the next year working on an itinerary and learning about what changes had occured since the last time me and DH were there in 1995. I ended up putting together a binder with sheet protectors for all my confirmation sheets and itinerary. It also had a handy pouch for all my maps. I bought an Orlando map before we left. During our trip we actually followed the itineray fairly closely. I knew with my Mom and a 2 1/2 yr old that there would be plenty of changes along the way. Now that we have the background information out of the way, I will start the Agongy and the Ecstasy...........
Part 1. Saturday Dec 2nd
Friday the day before we left I took a half day from work to get the last minute packing and cleaning done. I hate to come back from a trip to a messy house. My Mom had already been statying with us a week (she lives in another state) so she was able to watch my DS so I could get everything done. Our plane on Saturday had a 7:30 am departure time so I ordered a cab the night before. We all went to bed early, which was suprising for me since I usually can't sleep before a trip to WDW due to the excitement.
I got up on Saturday at 3:30 am and everyone else was up by 4:00. The cab was right on time at 5:00. We used Airport Taxi and they sent a minivan as requested and we had a very nice driver. He actually gave us his home number (we gave him a big tip because he was so helpful with the bags and getting my son in the car seat) so that he could pick us up at the airport on our return. We never were able to take him up on this though as you will read later......
We flew Northwest (what else would it be out of Mpls/St. Paul Int'l?). We had everying checked in superfast and we were at the gate in no time. We made sure DS had his Dramamine (he gets motion sickness) and I set out to get some food to tie us over until we had breakfast on the plane.
The plan was completely full and it left on time. The flight was pretty uneventful. DS slept most of the way and luckily had no motion sickness problems the enire trip. DS also wore earplanes, but he kept taking them out, so they were not that effective. A week before our trip he had an ear infectinon so I was concerned about how he would do. He was a real trooper. He didn't complain at all (this was a reacurring theme through the trip, thank God!)
We landed safely aroung 11:20 am. We made it to the bagage claim and we got our bags. My DH and I left my DS with my Mom while we went to get the rental car. We had a car through National using the emerald aisle. The problem was we could not find it. From were we were we could not see any signs for it. We asked two different MCO employees and they both sent us in the wrong direction. We spent 30 min plus looking for it. We were not happy campers (since were were carrying some of our lugage). We finally found it and chose a Buick Century. There were not many cars to choose from when we were there. We got the car checked out and went back to the bagage claim are to pick up DS and my Mom. We get just out of the ariport when my Mom can't find her purse. So we drive all the back only to get there and my Mom finding the purse in the car afterall.
At this point I am getting frusterated becasue we have a lot to get in on this day and we are falling way behind schedule. As we get onto the Bee Line Expr. the coolant light comes on in the rental car.
We make the drive to the Beach Club very quickly once we actaully get going. The hotel is beautiful, especially with all the decorations for Christmas. We were able to check in quickly. My Mom had had 4 days of park hopper passes from 1989 that were unused. We were able to get a credit for these towards the park hopper tickets during our stay. My Mom saved around $140. Our room was not ready and we had not had lunch yet (it was 2:00 at this point) so my DH decideds to try to return the rental car for a new one while my Mom and DS and I eat lunch at Beach's and Cream. Even at this time of the afternoon we had to wait over an 1/2 hr for a table. I did not get a PS before we left becasue I did not know how long it would take to get there from the airport, checed in, etc.
Beach's and Cream is VERY small. There are 3 booths and 4 tables that are VERY close together. They do have some stools at the counter as well. Both my Mom and I had hamburgers which were delicious! My Mom had a strawberry shake that she enjoyed as well. Around this time my DH shows up. He got lost trying to find the National office on the Disney property. I have no idea exactly were he ended up, but be found a gas station and filled the necessary fluids. We ended up keeping that car the whole trip and never had another problem with it. My DH ordered a hot dog and we were soon on our way.
By this time our room was done. I had requested a 2nd floor romm close to the elevators by the lobby. We ended up in room 2569 which was on the second floor close to the quiet pool. I posted my thoughts of the hotel on the resorts board if you are interested. We unpacked and left the room a little before 4:00. We headed over to Goodings (I know, VERY expensive, but convenient) to pick up some snacks, pop and stuff to have in the room. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Since we were going to the parks on Sunday we wanted to attend mass today. I had done some searches on the internet before we left and found Holy Family Cathoic Church. This church is located off of Apopka-Vineland Rd. The church is just seven miles north of Goodings. This church has a website <A HREF="http://www.holyfamilyorlando.org" TARGET="_blank">http://www.holyfamilyorlando.org</A>
Mass was at 5:00 pm and was very nice.
Next we drove to the Contemporary for our PS at Chef Mickey's at 7:00 pm. I really liked the Contemporay and would consider staying there in the future. Chef Mickey's was packed! It took about 20 min standing in line just to check in! Everyone but my Mom (reocurring theme) loved the food. Mickey, Minnie, and Chip and Dale made the rounds to the tables. We were able to get autographs and plenty of pictures. Before we left on the trip I had bought my son a stuffed mickey backback. It looks like a stuffed animal. When Minnie came by she took it and hugged it. It turned out into a cute picture! My son took a little while to warm up to the characters. I had thought that might be the case so that's why I wanted to do this dinner so that he could ease into the whole character thing. By the end of our trip he was a pro!
Originaly I had planed on visiting the other monorail hotels to check out the Christmas decorations. But, since we were all so tired, we decided to just go back to the room and go to sleep.
Stay tuned for part 2 Animal Kingdom/MGM
Blue Skies (aka Melissa) 28 and trip planner (6th trip)
DH - Robin turned 31 this trip (2nd trip)
DS - Alex 2 1/2 (1st trip)
Mom - 60 something (4th trip)
Well I guess I should start first be explaining the title I am giving these trip reports. Don't get me wrong, this was a fantastic trip. It just had some bumpy spots along the way.
This adventure actually started a year ago when while having lunch at the Rainforest Cafe at the Mall of America my Mom from out of the blue said, "How would you like to go to Disney World?" She didn't have to ask twice. My Mom offered to cover all expenses and she let me do all of the planning! A disney lovers dream come true!
All my Mom asked was that after the stay at Disney that we drive down to Boca Raton (where we used to live) so she could visit some friends.
This is the same time I found the DIS. I began spending hours soaking up all of the information people were willing to give. I relaized I needed a MKC card and I neede to make reservations soon. I was able to score MKC discount at the Beach Club. My Mom's favorite park is EPCOT so I thought she would enjoy the location. Eventhough I didn't have a budget per say this trip, I was trying to be as economical as possible. We all shared a standard room.
I spent the next year working on an itinerary and learning about what changes had occured since the last time me and DH were there in 1995. I ended up putting together a binder with sheet protectors for all my confirmation sheets and itinerary. It also had a handy pouch for all my maps. I bought an Orlando map before we left. During our trip we actually followed the itineray fairly closely. I knew with my Mom and a 2 1/2 yr old that there would be plenty of changes along the way. Now that we have the background information out of the way, I will start the Agongy and the Ecstasy...........
Part 1. Saturday Dec 2nd
Friday the day before we left I took a half day from work to get the last minute packing and cleaning done. I hate to come back from a trip to a messy house. My Mom had already been statying with us a week (she lives in another state) so she was able to watch my DS so I could get everything done. Our plane on Saturday had a 7:30 am departure time so I ordered a cab the night before. We all went to bed early, which was suprising for me since I usually can't sleep before a trip to WDW due to the excitement.
I got up on Saturday at 3:30 am and everyone else was up by 4:00. The cab was right on time at 5:00. We used Airport Taxi and they sent a minivan as requested and we had a very nice driver. He actually gave us his home number (we gave him a big tip because he was so helpful with the bags and getting my son in the car seat) so that he could pick us up at the airport on our return. We never were able to take him up on this though as you will read later......
We flew Northwest (what else would it be out of Mpls/St. Paul Int'l?). We had everying checked in superfast and we were at the gate in no time. We made sure DS had his Dramamine (he gets motion sickness) and I set out to get some food to tie us over until we had breakfast on the plane.
The plan was completely full and it left on time. The flight was pretty uneventful. DS slept most of the way and luckily had no motion sickness problems the enire trip. DS also wore earplanes, but he kept taking them out, so they were not that effective. A week before our trip he had an ear infectinon so I was concerned about how he would do. He was a real trooper. He didn't complain at all (this was a reacurring theme through the trip, thank God!)
We landed safely aroung 11:20 am. We made it to the bagage claim and we got our bags. My DH and I left my DS with my Mom while we went to get the rental car. We had a car through National using the emerald aisle. The problem was we could not find it. From were we were we could not see any signs for it. We asked two different MCO employees and they both sent us in the wrong direction. We spent 30 min plus looking for it. We were not happy campers (since were were carrying some of our lugage). We finally found it and chose a Buick Century. There were not many cars to choose from when we were there. We got the car checked out and went back to the bagage claim are to pick up DS and my Mom. We get just out of the ariport when my Mom can't find her purse. So we drive all the back only to get there and my Mom finding the purse in the car afterall.
At this point I am getting frusterated becasue we have a lot to get in on this day and we are falling way behind schedule. As we get onto the Bee Line Expr. the coolant light comes on in the rental car.
We make the drive to the Beach Club very quickly once we actaully get going. The hotel is beautiful, especially with all the decorations for Christmas. We were able to check in quickly. My Mom had had 4 days of park hopper passes from 1989 that were unused. We were able to get a credit for these towards the park hopper tickets during our stay. My Mom saved around $140. Our room was not ready and we had not had lunch yet (it was 2:00 at this point) so my DH decideds to try to return the rental car for a new one while my Mom and DS and I eat lunch at Beach's and Cream. Even at this time of the afternoon we had to wait over an 1/2 hr for a table. I did not get a PS before we left becasue I did not know how long it would take to get there from the airport, checed in, etc.
Beach's and Cream is VERY small. There are 3 booths and 4 tables that are VERY close together. They do have some stools at the counter as well. Both my Mom and I had hamburgers which were delicious! My Mom had a strawberry shake that she enjoyed as well. Around this time my DH shows up. He got lost trying to find the National office on the Disney property. I have no idea exactly were he ended up, but be found a gas station and filled the necessary fluids. We ended up keeping that car the whole trip and never had another problem with it. My DH ordered a hot dog and we were soon on our way.
By this time our room was done. I had requested a 2nd floor romm close to the elevators by the lobby. We ended up in room 2569 which was on the second floor close to the quiet pool. I posted my thoughts of the hotel on the resorts board if you are interested. We unpacked and left the room a little before 4:00. We headed over to Goodings (I know, VERY expensive, but convenient) to pick up some snacks, pop and stuff to have in the room. We were in and out in 15 minutes. Since we were going to the parks on Sunday we wanted to attend mass today. I had done some searches on the internet before we left and found Holy Family Cathoic Church. This church is located off of Apopka-Vineland Rd. The church is just seven miles north of Goodings. This church has a website <A HREF="http://www.holyfamilyorlando.org" TARGET="_blank">http://www.holyfamilyorlando.org</A>
Mass was at 5:00 pm and was very nice.
Next we drove to the Contemporary for our PS at Chef Mickey's at 7:00 pm. I really liked the Contemporay and would consider staying there in the future. Chef Mickey's was packed! It took about 20 min standing in line just to check in! Everyone but my Mom (reocurring theme) loved the food. Mickey, Minnie, and Chip and Dale made the rounds to the tables. We were able to get autographs and plenty of pictures. Before we left on the trip I had bought my son a stuffed mickey backback. It looks like a stuffed animal. When Minnie came by she took it and hugged it. It turned out into a cute picture! My son took a little while to warm up to the characters. I had thought that might be the case so that's why I wanted to do this dinner so that he could ease into the whole character thing. By the end of our trip he was a pro!
Originaly I had planed on visiting the other monorail hotels to check out the Christmas decorations. But, since we were all so tired, we decided to just go back to the room and go to sleep.
Stay tuned for part 2 Animal Kingdom/MGM
