Lets start with the bookends, before the trip & after I got back. This post will be somewhat boring with very few if any picturesI apologize & promise to make up for it later!!
You can check out my trip report from our Sept. 2007 to see our visit history, if you like.
Me, Chief Planner & Disney obsess-er. Ive been planning this trip since last February when I rented DVC points to stay at the Boardwalk.
DH, Enjoys Disney a lot, but not obsessed. Great at getting Figment to try new things & face his fears.
Figment, DS8. Almost 9. Loves classic/vintage Disney & is as obsessed with our trips as I am.
Stitch, DS4. Boy is he growing up too fast. He loves Disney too & I couldnt believe how much he remembered from our September trip about what he wanted to ride & which park it was in. Im training those boys up right I tell ya!
Before this trip I had two prayers every night (in addition to the more significant, meaningful things):
1. Please keep us all well. See, on our Jan. 2006 trip we were in the middle of a string of strep throats for Figment. Just before we left the both went on an antibiotic for infections (2006). During the trip I had a panic attack which I never really got over for the entire tripstill not sure Im over it.
2. Please give us sun & warm-ish weather. Doesnt have to be hot, just comfortable, but preferably sunny to rainy.
Thats it. Not asking too much am I?
We were set to leave on the 17th, a Thursday. On the 7th I had to take Figment to the doctor for an earache & pink eye. He goes on his antibiotic. Im thinking, okay, get it over with now & be on an antibiotic to combat anything else. Then on the 10th DH takes Stitch in. He wasnt complaining of anything, but the night before I noticed he was warm & I didnt want to take any chances. He comes home with a strep throat diagnosis & antibiotic. Anyone else want to take care of it before we leave???
On the 17th, the day we leave, we have our first winter weather of the year. Here in NC where I live we get ice & people freak out. So, I was just hoping it would be okay when we were supposed to leave around 4:00. Figments school closed for the day, but we had to wait on DH to get home from work. Im glad to say that we were able to leave & even made it through Charlotte without too much traffic.
Now, the other side of the bookend. We got home on Jan. 27. I had not checked my email on the trip (though I did log in here), and I didnt check it that night when I got home. When I checked Monday morning at 9:30ish I was shocked. There were a stream of emails from work. Long story short, my supervisors job was eliminated. I was devastated. He has been the most wonderful person to work for, understanding of time off (even for my Disney obsession), a great teacher, and more. I work for a non-profit, so I was also very uneasy about my job last week. This is why I couldnt bring myself to start my trip report. I just couldnt process everything (youll read more about that in the actual report). Now I feel somewhat better. Somewhat.
So, on with the Disney Magic!
Next postsince I didnt get around to doing a pre-TR you need to know our plans (so that youll understand my title)!
Another post without pictures. Again, sorry & I will make it up to you. Trust me. I have around 6GB of pictures that I took & when I finished up my edits I had 1260 photopass shots.
The Itinerary:
Friday Jan. 18:
Arrive from Savannah around lunch time
Check in to POR
Go to MK
Dinner at Pinocchio’s
Wishes
Sat. Jan. 19:
Epcot—Future World Only
11:30 Lunch at Coral Reef
5:40 Dinner at 50’s PT (when booking my ADRs I was told this was the only night it was open during our travel)
Sun. Jan. 20
Get up & move out (& up) to Boardwalk Villas
World Showcase
Back to the Boardwalk to hang out
Alternate: MK for Spectro
Mon. Jan. 21
Pirate Day Aaargh!!
Albatross Cruise for the boys at 9:15 check-in
Hang out & rest
P&PP
Tues. Jan. 22
Sleep in
Late start at AK
10:30 Tusker House Breakfast
MGM EMH
Wed. Jan. 23
8:05 CP
MK
Lunch—take boat over to WL & eat at Roaring Forks
Evening EMH at AK (never been there after dark)
Thurs. Jan. 24
Kona Breakfast at 8:30
Family Magic Tour 9:45 check in
MGM/DHS for parade
4:10 Mama Melrose F! Package
Thurs. Jan. 17
This is the day we were supposed to leave & we were greeted by this:
I know, no big deal to a lot of you guys out there, but they called off school. The roads were a bit icy in the morning as it was mostly a freezing rain/sleet event. I wouldve been ready to head out & drive straight down except DH had to work until 4:00 to get a bid in.
So, here are the boys with bed head & final countdown day!!
At around 4:15 were in the car & on the way to Savannah to stay on points at a Fairfield by Marriott just off I-95. We stayed here in September. Fine place to stop, nice & clean.
Up & out the next morningI didnt write it down, but I think it was around 8:15 in the car. Woohoo!! Disney here we come.
The boys left this on the hotel window:
Here we are arriving in Florida:
Notice how it says Sunshine State? Where is my sunshine?????
We stopped at the Florida Welcome Center for a potty break & some nice fresh OJ.
Heres our next marker point:
& the next:
We arrived at POR & didnt wait long to check in. The boys watched cartoons. Our room was not ready & we had no indication of where we would be in the complex. So, DH moved the car from check-in parking to the regular part & we were off to lunch at the Riverside Mill.
Figment had the Turkey Pinwheels kids meal which he enjoyed, Stitch still eating the nuggets, DH had the Hamburger & I had the Turkey Sandwich with Pasta Salad side. Mine was very good & freshthe pasta salad was yummy.
We scored a nice seat by the wheel. Here are the boys outside by the wheel:
By 1:19, yes folks, 1:19 we were on the bus head to MK!! It was drizzly outside, but no biggie.
Upon our arrival at MK I purchased the DDE card. I thought it was $65 for AP holders, but it was only $60, which meant it would make up for itself all the sooner. Plus, it is good until the end of February 2009. Even more reason to plan lots of trips, right??
Day 1, Part 1.5
Magic Kingdom
Fri., Jan. 18
After we successfully made it through the turnstiles we had a very definite planto do whatever we wanted! We looked at this particular half day as a bonus, so we were going to try to hit some rides if the wait was short enough & we wanted to hunt down some of those characters.
We were immediately successful with the character portion.
We saw Pinocchio (too bad the kids didnt remember they had Pinocchio shirts on under their hoodies for the pictures):
& someone Ive always wanted to meetJiminy Cricket. I wish they had photopass people with these guys.
& then Snow White:
We waited behind 1 child for both Pinocchio & Jiminy, and walked right up to Snow White. They were all on the porch around Tonys & the Exposition Hall.
Then we walked right down the middle of Main Street USA. We grabbed a FP for Buzz (stand-by was 30 minutes) & hit TTA, or, as it will forever be known to me, the PeopleMover. There was actually a line. NEVER seen a line at People Mover. It moved briskly & was maybe 3 minutes.
This is the were finally at Disney & one our first ride, I am so excited picture:
Then we met our buddy the real Stitch.
As DH retrieved the stroller we posed for a picture by one of our classic favorites. We didnt experience it today, but we posed.
Down the empty red trail to Toontownremember the character hunt? Well, we found Mickey. Weve never seen him in the Judges Tent, so we enjoyed a nice 10 minute cartoon watching break & met the mouse. During this time I called to check on our room & was put on hold foreverhad to hang up so I wouldnt be rude to the mouse.
Stitch loved this interaction. Mickey was wiggling his nose & Stitch was absolutely cracking up!!!
Now it was time to ride Buzz with our FP. Stitch was begging this is his very mostest favorite ride in all of the Magic Kingdom (remember how I said he differentiates the parks now). The stand-by line was 50 minutes at this point. No joke 50 minutes. We breezed on with our FPs. We missed the Dream Team by 1 person. Everyone in front of us got passes to stay an extra hour after the park closed. It was a bummer, but we made ourselves feel better by saying that probably wasnt the best idea anyway.
Next it was on to my favorite movie, Philharmagic. We walked in right as Goofy was giving his spiel to a rather full waiting area. We ended up just a few rows back from the screen, pretty much center & the view was perfect. We usually sit more to the back, but this was a much better experience.
Then we went to the Riverboat. I think we might have checked HM & BTMRR for wait times & FP return, but decided against them. I havent done the riverboat in years & the kids have never done it. It was a fun ride through the area.
On to Small World at Stitchs request, not much of a wait.
It was now 4:45 & Peter Pan was out of FP for the day.
We headed over to Pinocchios Village Haus for dinner (notice a trend with us today & the Pinocchio??) It was bustling! The guys secured a tablealthough I requested the try to go upstairs (it looked like there was an open upstairs), Figment really wanted to overlook Small World. He proudly proclaimed they had grabbed the only available table in that spot. It was a little crowded for us, but they had fun waving to the boats.
How about the food??2 cheese pizzas & 1 pepperoni meal (with salad). Plenty for the 4 of us. &, being the frugal people that we are, we had gotten into the habit of bringing our own drinks to the park & requesting a free cup of ice. Worked like a charm.
Now, although we thought we might catch Wishes tonight, the MK was a little crowded & our room was finally ready (it was after 4:30 before it was), so we decided to catch the bus back to POR & move in our bags for the next 2 nights.
On the way out we went around the castle & got a couple of nice shots for the evening:
Then we met these two lovely & helpful ladies before exiting the park.
Day 1 The End
Jan. 18
POR
We arrived back at the Main Bus Stop at POR & needed to drive to our room #8097. This was in the Acadian House section of the Magnolia Bend Plantation Houses. It was really a nice locationnot terribly close to the Food Court or Main Pool, but not too far away either. It was very close to the parking lot for bringing in our bags, and outside was a nice fountain. Just a short walk away down a path was the bus stop. This would be just fine for 2 nights. But I did admit to DH that I think I might have become a Deluxe Girl. I think he feels the same way.
Here is our room:
We had an early dinner & we all wanted a bit something else & to do a tiny bit of exploring, so we made our way back to the Riverside meal & got a couple of cookies. We also did some shopping that night I think. & took a picture in the lobbynot a great shot, but I have one of my sister & I sitting there when I was in high school.
We watched a bit of resort TV & drifted off to sleep for our early morning to make RD at Epcot.
This morning the goal was to get to Epcot for Rope Drop. We got up in plenty of time. I was a little disappointed that the wake up call was neither Mickey nor Stitch, but the same “theme” music they play on the bus.
The kids indulged me with a few fountain pictures & we were off to the bus stop arriving at 8:05.
We arrived at Epcot at 8:20 & had to wait for them to open the turnstiles—yeah! We made it!! Despite the fact that we chose the shortest line, some people ahead of us had trouble with their tickets, so there were quite a few people in before us. DH made his way to the right with our tickets to get Soarin’ FPs, and the rest of us were going to walk over to TT to wait for him to join us. I picked Stitch up so he could see the characters.
There were lots of Dream Team folks around & we lingered there by the fountain, not necessarily hoping for a dream, but just because they were fun to talk to. We even talked to “Elton” who is on the commercials.
We regrouped at Test Track & walked right on. I mean the fastest we’ve ever gotten into a room—straight into it.
Then we headed over to one of Stitch’s favorites, Nemo—again walk on. Then we walked into Turtle Talk. We got in at the end & it was pretty full. Stitch was not too happy that they didn’t get to talk to Crush.
Now it was time to ride Soarin’. I was a little concerned because the first time I rode it I got motion sick. This time I was wearing the bracelet things for motion sickness & it was great!
Over to Imagination—of course, a walk on. We paused to meet Figment & play with the fountains.
Then it was over to Coral Reef to check in for our lunch reservation. Our ADR was for 11:30 & we were early. We waited for our table & were seated tankside.
DH was surprised with the personalized menu that had pictures of the kids at Epcot & the Seas over the years, along with a picture of us eating at Coral Reef on our Honeymoon.
I ordered the steak & it was very good. I really enjoyed the potatoes & I would dare say this might be the best meal of the trip. I was really concerned about this ADR & almost cancelled it due to the price & reviews, but I’m so glad I kept it.
As we were eating a diver came down & wished a table in the next window over Happy Birthday. Then another diver descended into the tank upside down. He was coming to our window!! He had the sign I had arranged that said welcome back to WDW & Nemo says have a great time. Figment loved it! Unfortunately they spelled Stitch’s name wrong, & he was a little bit upset about that thinking that the sign was not for him. Oh well.
We loved the tankside view it was beautiful. The service was great. They even brought us a dessert to celebrate our anniversary (the reason for the menu). It was the chocolate wave & it was delicious.
Here’s DH & I on our Honeymoon in 1997:
On the way out we decided to ride the new Spaceship Earth. The first half was awesome with the new AAs. The updated scenes were great. I don’t love Judy Dench as the narrator, but I might get used to it. When we went this time the photo part was working & while that was cute the first time we rode it, I miss the score & scenes from the second half of the ride.
After shopping at my favorite MouseGears we were on the bus at 2:30. Everything we wanted to accomplish at Future World was essentially done.
We got back to POR & decided since the weather was especially warm or pretty that we would run over to DTD & try to spend some of the kids’ money that was burning a hole in their pockets.
Day 2, Part 2
Downtown Disney
Jan. 19
So, as we got back to POR we knew we would have to drive to DTD to make it back in time for our ADR at 50s PT. My thought was to drive over, not rush & drive to DHS. DH really likes to take the bus. So, we drove & said we would see how our timing went. We parked near the World of Disney store & it was fullwe had to drive around & wait on someone to get a spot at all.
I really wanted to go to DTD to shop at the World of Disney store. I figured I could get most of our staples there like 2008 shirts, magnet, pin, etc. & get my 10% off with Disney Visa.
The boys each had around $100 in spending money they had gotten for Christmas gifts & they were itching to spend it. They like the potato heads at MouseGears earlier, but I made them wait.
I was SO disappointed with World of Disney. The boys were able to get their monorail set there for 10% off, so that was good. They had decided they were going to split the cost since they have admired it for years. Unfortunately now that we are home the monorail no longer talks, so we are going to have to mail it back for an exchange.
I was able to get the 2008 pins, a couple of other pins for the boys & me (Epcot 25th), and a couple of frames. They had no childrens 2008 t-shirts anywhere. & believe me I looked ALL OVER that store. They didnt even have the 2008 photo album that I wanted. I still ended up spending plenty of $$ there, but I knew I couldve gotten all of those other things earlier at MouseGears & saved the trip to DTD.
Next we headed over to Once Upon A Toy where each boy stuffed a potato head full of stuff. The potatoes were full, the box was strategically packed & it barely closed. I really dont think these are a bad deal for $20 if you take some time & pack carefully.
Now it was getting pretty close to our necessary departure time. We decided to drive back to POR & take the bus to DHS. On the bus I asked DH if he had grabbed all of the rain jackets I sat on his backpack. No.
You are going to love it. At AKL I just felt like I was in a totally different place when we would get back there after a day in the parks. So relaxing & so special.
Our ADR was for 5:40. When I made the reservation in July I was told that was the only night that week that 50s would be open. I didnt want 2 ADRs on the same day, but we really like 50s, so I went with it.
After our dashing around we arrived at DHS at 5:32. We parked the stroller outside & I covered it with the plastic cover. Checked in & had a seat in one of the living rooms. In the past weve had to wait a while & by the looks of the waiting area I thought this would be the same; however, we were seated in less than 5 minutes.
Our server was Aunt Ellen. She was into it, but not too into it. We had one of the great kitchen island tables with the TV. The large table next to us had a very enthusiastic server who kept sending them to the corner.
DH & I had the fried chicken, substituting green beans for the greens. The chicken was delicious as always. I didnt care so much for the potatoes this time, and the green beans were not as good as usual. Still a very good & fun meal for all of us & we will be back.
During our dinner we started hearing the weather outside. Wind, rain & thunder. DH kept checking the satellite on his phone & it didnt look good. We got to the lobby & could see the deluge outside. I grabbed the stroller & brought it in. We loaded Stitch up & ran to the row of stores lining Hollywood Blvd.
It was horrible! Wild wind, lightning very near by, loud thunder. I was beginning to reminisce about our nearly 2 hour stay at the Briar Patch store in September during a nasty storm at MNSSHP. & rememberour ponchos & rain jackets? Back in the room where DH forgot them.
We browsed for our 15-20 minutes, then it started slowing down. The radar looked like the storm part had passed so we decided to head out to the bus stop. I think it was nearly time for the park to close anyway. I felt bad for anyone trying to catch F! that night.
As we approached the bus stop area it was mobbed. We needed I think 12 or 14 & as we were trying to get down that way we realized that all of the people standing there were in line for our bus stop. It was raining/drizzling/raining. We waited over an hour for the bus. There were several groups in front of usa high school band, a foreign (maybe Brazilian) tour group, etc. & at DHS there is not much coverage at their bus stops, so we were soaked to the bone. I dont think Disney Transportation handled this very well this night. Most of the other bus stops were completely empty, or the buses were leaving with 2-3 families & we still had a line of enough people to pack 2-3 busses. It was taking forever between busses.
When we did get on a bus we got a seatFigment sat on my lap & Stitch on DHs to make room. Back at the room the kids drew from their prize bag (a small token of bribery to keep them behaving throughout the day. We packed up everything except our clothes for the next morning & toiletries & DH took all of that on to the car. Tomorrow morning were moving up & out!
I enjoyed reading the first few chapters of your Trip Report. I'm impressed that you guys like 50's PT enough to purposefully go there. It used to be one of our favorites, but the last two times we ate there it was really subpar.
We've had the same experience at World of Disney. Except in our case, I think we waited until the end of our trip to do our shopping and then discovered about half of what we wanted we couldn't get there. Up until a few years ago, we still went so we could avail ourselves of the 10% discount, but we've discovered that we end up spending more. Plus, I just hate that place. It's too stinking huge. It feels like you've left Disney World and have gone to the mall.
Enjoying our pics and report! Your boys are so cute - you seem to be timing everything perfectly (can't help mother nature with the downpour but all in all you've gotten a lot accomplished).
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