# Trip Reports



## OrlandoMike

Just get back from Disney?

Tell us all about it!


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## Boston5602

I did , I did !   I'll write out a little report this coming weekend. Did 6 nights Deluxe plan at BWV and 2 nights Savanna view with Sunset safari at AKV.


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## BarleyJack

So we've never written a trip report before, so please don't expect much!  This was our first trip to WDW in over 20 years, and our first "real" vacation as a couple.  Needless to say we were both excited and nervous.  Shorter vacations have been known to cause divorce and when you throw a trip to Disney into the equation ya never know what might happen!

*Day One, January 18th* The alarm was set for stupid o'clock, but we both ended up waking up at stupidER o'clock prolly due to nerves/excitement.  We must have packed and unpaced a hundred times before we actually loaded the car.  Anyway, first line of business was to take the dogs to the kennel (see their pic in our avatar).  This was traumatic.  We've never left them alone for this long before.  Don't tell but I actually cried after we dropped them off.  But anyway.....

Back to the house to pack up the truck.  We still had several hours before our flight left but we were restless and couldn't wait.  We took the long way to the airport, but still got there way early.  Oh well.

The flight arrived on time and landed on time!  We were finally in FL after months of planning and waiting.  We got in line for ME and a lady in tres fashionable khaki skirt told us that only one could wait in line.  There were like 2 people ahead of us.  Oh well.  Off to the chairs I went while Steve checked us in.  After he returned we made our way through the ropes to the front where we were told where to go, and were actually escorted to the coach for our trip to POP.  The bus ride was pleasant with a cute video on the way.  Next thing we knew, we arrived!

As we walked into the lobby at POP all the CMs were in the middle of the lobby doing the Hustle with corresponding music blaring overhead.  I wasn't expecting that.  I felt a little awkward walking in front the floor show to get to the line to check in, but se la vie (or however you spell it, i took spanish).

There was no line to check in.  The CM who checked us in was extremely efficient.  So efficient that I don't think she took a breath.  Its a good thing I didn't have any questions! LOL.  Anyway she was very nice and the whole process took less than five minutes.  We were given a map to our room in the 60's building and off we went. We were behind baloo's giant behind.

Here's our room number: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			
		
		
	


	




For some reason I can't find the room interior pics, sorry about that.  Dang photobucket!  I'm sure ya'll have seen them a million times before tho.  It was small, but clean.  The beds could have been more comfortable but it was just for one night so who cares!~

So we jumped on the bus to MK.  Steve had never seen EPCOT so I wanted to take him on the monorail so he get a look at it.  Our monorail had a very distinct odor to it...think dirty gym sock meets old diaper.  It was bad!  Needless to say Steve didn't want to ride a monorail again, although he did enjoy the view of Epcot.

Back to POP....we were hungry!  After a long day of travels we wanted some grub, so we hit the food court.  I had this: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Its a philly cheese steak wrap with pretzels and fries (YaY starch!)...also had a beer!
Steve had this: 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



Its shrimp lo mein and he had a coke or tea, can't remember which.  Neither of us were expecting much as we had read that food court food wasn't that great.  We were surprised!  This meal was one of the best food court meals we had all trip!  This meal was out of pocket, the DDP kicked in the next day. After we ate we hung out by Petals (the pop bar) and drank beer and mai tais.  Also hit the gift shop to buy lanyards and fast pass holders...boy did they come in handy! We went to bed pretty early--had a busy morning coming up.  On the am agenda: transfer to POR and check in, meet the grocery delivery man and make it to Boatwrights by 10am for our breakfast ressie.  We opted to sleep in a bit and take a cab rather than use the busses and deal with mult transfers.  Turned out to be a good choice!  POP to POR isn't very far.  

That's it for this installment...more to come


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## OrlandoMike

Any TR that includes beer and Mai Tai's poolside is a great TR!


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## mickeyfan1

Any trip that includes a pool, a pool bar, and drinks is a great trip!

I think the Pop Food court is great. I have eaten at most all of the values, mods and AKL, CR, & olynesian ones and it really is good.  I know it's a lot of the same food, but they just do it better?  

Can't wait to read some more.


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## TuckandStuiesMom

Woo-Hoo! Great Start -- Looking forward to more.


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## I<3EvilQueen

More, more, more.

It is helping me pass the time before I head down.


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## 2moms

Great start...with food porn and everything...what more can a gal ask for?!  Can't wait for the next installment!


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## BarleyJack

Thanks for the kind words everyone!  Much appreciated!

*Day 2, Saturday Jan 19*

OK.  So out of bed by 7.30, showered and ready to go to POR.  We had decided the day before to sleep in a bit and use a taxi instead of busses so we didn't miss our delivery/breakfast.

Check out went smoothly, the CM was kind enough to call a cab for us and by the time we made it out of the lobby he was there!  So cool.

Anyway we pull into POR about 10 minutes later (had no idea it was so close!) and head to the check in counter.  What a pretty lobby!  Fran from Brooklyn checked us in.  Southern Splendor and a New Yorker, too funny!  She was great tho and answered all our questions.  On top of that, our room was ready!  Mind you this is at 8.30 in the morning, how cool is that?!  We had prepared and were looking forward to a room in the Mansions sections, as we had read that Alligator Bayou rooms were reserved for families of 5.  Imagine our surprise when we told we would be in AB!  I think Steve was a little upset at first, but I was happy about it.  The AB section just looks more lush and vacationy to me. He ended up loving it tho.  The only problem is that we were in building 37.....about as far as you can get from the main building.  We were close to the north depot and the quiet pool tho, so it was a fair trade.

Here's where we were:




This pic was taken at night on a later day obviously.  We were in room 3711, nice garden view.

This little guy was waiting in the window when we went in:





Steve says its a squirrel, I say its a beaver (he's prolly right).  I choose to call him squeaver as a compromise.  He sat next to the TV during our stay, and currently resides in our guest room (shhh don't tell mickey).

Other pics of the room: 








Loved this place, couldn't be happier.  I think we made a good choice for our first on site resort.

So I called Eric from wegoshop and let him know we had arrived.  He showed up about 30 mins later with our order of oranges, granola bars, wine, bottled water, coffee, creamer and beer.  Just the necessities  

After he left it was about time for our Boatwright's Breakfast ressie so we headed down.  Yes, its a loud restaraunt but we didn't care, it was our first TS meal!  We checked in about 20 minutes early and were seated in less than 10. Our server Alfredo (like the sauce? as steve said) was ok.  Nothing spectacular but we didn't have to wait long for refills and our food came out pretty quickly. 
I had this: 




Its banana stuffed french toast with strawberry sauce and bacon.  The french toast itself was really good, but something tells me that really wasn't bacon.  I wanted this cuz I was told it was just like tonga toast which sounded so delish! The coffee was good too.
Steve had this:




Its the eggs benedict with potatoes and sweet tea.  He really enjoyed this meal.  I stole a few potatoes from him and they were tasty!  This meal was OOP.

So what next?  Off to a park of course!  As our first choice we decided on:




Steve had never been here, and the last time I was it was brand new, all of WS wasn't even open yet!

First off we went to The Land and got fast passes for Soarin'.  While we waited we went on Living with the Land boatride, which I enjoyed much more than when I was a pre teen.  Here's a pic:




Then off to:




This was AMAZING!  We rode the Orange side despite the trazillion death warnings, and wow was it worth it!  We rode this again later in the week.  The standby line was listed at 40 mins I think, but it didn't take nearly that long to get there.  We were paired with a married couple, the lady was to be our engineer that flight.  She bolted at the last minute but we still landed safely!
Back to The Land to ride Soarin'! 




What a rush!  I know some people can't stand it but we thought it was pretty cool.  The only thing I wish they would change is the film quality, its a bit grainy.  With a clearer picture the ride would be simply incredible.

Ok so by this time we were hungry again, and decided to eat at Sunshine Seasons.  I had this the vegetable sandwich with chips and a chocolate cake.  Steve had (I think) a turkey/cheese sammie with the same dessert.  We both agreed that my sandwich was awesome!  So far the best counter service!  Bear in mind this is only day 2 tho! LOL.

So we hit the rest of future world, seeing literally all the attractions.  Waits were non existant.  The only thing I believe we didn't see of the major ones was Honey I Shrunk the Audience.  No biggie, we'll catch it next time.

Steve suggests we head to WS and look around.  Sure, I say, let's go.  Well the skies were starting to cloud over a bit and the wind was picking up but no worries, I brought ponchos and extra socks!  Ummm....wrong.  We started in Mexico and were about to Japan when it hit.  It being a monster storm, not one your typical Florida showers.  It was crazy!  Serious wind gusts, people closing up shop, people running for cover.  We put on our ponchos and headed back to the entrance.  Jumped in a few puddles, felt like a kid again.  It was fun  
When we got back to POR we saw on the news that there had been a tornado warning in effect  How crazy is that?  Here I am skipping through puddles in Canada and I coulda ended up in Oz?  Oh well, we survived.

BTW, we both agreed that our favorite attraction at Epcot is Test Track!  If you haven't been on I highly recommend it!





More to come!  Thanks so much for reading!


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## I<3EvilQueen

From what I have heard the Towel animals are made of the old towels that are about to be "recycled"  so they are ok to take home.  But I haven't heard that "officially" of course.


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## PHILCT

Thanks for the photos of the breakfast meals, I want both now !  

Hugs Phil


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## 2moms

Great pics!  You're doin' a great job with your report.  Can't wait to hear more.


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## bobf320

mickeyfan1 said:


> Any trip that includes a pool, a pool bar, and drinks is a great trip!
> 
> 
> AMEN Marsha!!!
> 
> Great trip report!  Looking forward to reading more, and seeing more pictures!
> 
> 
> Bob


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## PghLybrt

Keep it coming!!  Our trips overlapped...its neat seeing the same time from your perspective!!


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## RockinDisney

Love the report, the pics are great and glad to hear nice things about POR, that is where we are staying in late Sept/early Oct


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## NHdisneylover

Hey Barely Jack,
You are off to a great start on the report.  I am enjoying it!  I gotta agree that Mission Space is one fantastic ride.  Kudos for taking the orange route your first time out (we were there on passholder previes way back when so it was the only option when we started ) Alas my age is cathing up with me and I feel the after effects too long to ride the "real" side any longer.  DD11, on the otehr hand, will happily ride it over and over and . . .

I am glad to hear a bit about Boatwrightes as we are considering dining there in September.


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## BarleyJack

You guys are the best, thanks so much for keeping reading and for the kind words.  I'll do the best I can on this installment, but I'm fighting the flu bug so bear with me  

*Day 3, Sunday Jan 20*

So after our thorough soaking at Epcot the previous night we slept in.  Well, Steve slept in I should say.  I'm an early riser by nature and almost always woke up before the wake up call LOL.  We had planned on going to MK this day, and had ressies at LTT for dinner that night.

After a bit of a late start, we headed to the classic park: 






I just love this sign; to me it says "Vacation!"  

Steve's family had a tradition of getting pix of the train station and mickey flower head for each trip so he grabbed a few shots.  Here's one:






So what can I say about the MK that hasn't already been said?  Its absolutely beautiful and just LOADS of fun.  Waits were pretty long, but it was the Sunday before MLK day as well as a PM EMH night.  Despite Tour Guide Mikes warnings we went.  Heck, we were there for 9 days and figured we'd have enough time to see what we wanted to see.  This was a vacation, not a commando mission.  But I digress.

Here's a couple more pics I took that day:






I had no idea there was a gift shop in there!  I don't recall ever having seen it open before, so we wandered in.  Great stop if you have a firefighter in your family.

I really like this pic, just think it looks neat with moon rising next to the castle:






I HAD to try a dole whip float; the way everyone here raves about them you'd think its the legal form of crack!  So I tried one, and Steve had the traditional whip:





I must say it was tres tasty!  I imaging on a hot summer day this is totally refreshing.  Its been added to the list for next trip  

We wandered aimlesslessly around the park and enjoyed some attractions.  The Tiki birds was a cute show, Haunted Mansion rocks as always, and the Jungle Cruise was so fun!  Neither of us had been on it before; lines were too long on past trips and parents wanted to skip it!  We got fastpasses this time and sure am glad we did.  Our tour guide was Chris and he was Hilarious!   Good times....

We had lunch at Columbia Harbor House.  I wanted to try this place after hearing so many good things about it on this board.  We were not disappointed!  Steve told me what he wanted and went upstairs to snag a table while I ordered.  We had this:






Steve had the sandwich, I had the soup and sandwich combo.  Both were delicious!  My soup was suppose to come with the Anchors Aweigh (tuna) but they messed up and I ended up with same as Steve, the Starboard Deck. I wasn't about to fight the lines again for some tuna salad.  It was good tho, so I was happy. We both really enjoyed this place and will surely return!

We saw Captain Jack:






And a possible Hidden Mickey.  Steve spotted this one in the rocks in adventureland...can anyone verify?






So we head to LTT for dinner.  We were both excited about this one, our first Disney Dinner table service EVER.  Our server was Craig, he was super!  (and cute, as evil queen pointed out in another thread  )  They called out our name in the lobby...."Now seating the M*** party from the great state of Tennessee!"  Cute. The food was gut busting!  Nothing 5 star or anything, but on a chilly day it was great comfort food!  I know the MK doesn't serve alcohol, but I think it strange to name a place a Tavern and not at least have beer!  Anyway....it was a great meal and the characters were fantastic!  We saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Chip and Dale.  Chip and Dale are my faves, just love em.  Steve loves Goofy.  



So it was EMH this night from 11-2.  After dinner we wandered discussing what to do.  Wandered into Tomorrowland and checked out the Carousel of Progress.  Neat ride except for one thing.  It broke down while we were on it.  Everything started as planned: no wait, right in, song starts.  "Theres a great big beautiful tomorrow..." and so on.  So were spinning through the decades and we get to the last scene.  As we enter the future with the voice activiated christmas tree and oven, the carousel jerks to a halt a little over 3/4 of the way around.  During the scene we can hear and partially see part of the scene we just left.  A voice comes on "Ladies and Gentlemen, blah blah blah have to repeat the scene you just saw blah blah blah".  Yikes.  No big deal really, this is a neat attraction.  I just wish we could've sat through ANY scene other than the one we did.  Grandma playing video games is just weird to me.

So we exit the ride and they are passing out EMH wristbands.  We figure, what the heck, we're on vacation.  Prior to this I can't tell you the last time I was up past 11.  Glad we stayed tho.  In two hours we rode: SM twice, BTMRR twice, POTC, TTA, Winnie the Pooh, Teacups, Dumbo, Peter Pan's Flight, Stitch's Great Escape, and Buzz Lightyear.  We did more in EMH that we had done all day.  Yeah, we were tired but had a blast!  There were literally NO lines.  

It was a great day, but we were exhausted.  Later we saw what I think was the "Kiss goodnight" mini show at the castle.  On our way out I snapped this:






Well I guess that's it for now.  Time to take some more medicine and try and get some rest.  Hope you all enjoy!


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## MAF

Cute!


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## OrlandoMike

Hope your feeling better!

I'm loving the trip report!

Keep it up!


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## npmommie

I love your pics and the TR!!!  I am really wanting to go back NOW!
We all loved soarin too. lots of fun!


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## RockinDisney

Hope you are feeling better!! I really like the pic of the castle at night.  And WOW I guess the EMH is worth staying for!!!!


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## TuckandStuiesMom

1.) Hope you're feeling better
2.) This continues to be a GREAT TR -- Luv the pics!
3.) Even the faux Captain Jack is cute -- Ay Carumba!!!!!


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## ss9498

Great report.  I hope you feel better soon.


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## NHdisneylover

Enjoying your latest installment and sending some virtual chicken soup your way.


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## BarleyJack

Thanks for the well wishes everyone.  I'm starting to feel some better finally, just in time to go back to work tomorrow...blah  

*Day 4, MLK Day, Jan 21*  I think this was the day that killed by feet.  Despite staying out for EMH the night before, for some reason we still got upl early and went to MGM, errr DHS for rope drop.  Needless to say I was a bit cranky this am.  Just aske the lady who cut be off at the security bag check.  She felt she needed to enter the park 3 seconds before I did and thusly plopped her bag down on the table in front of mine.  I said to her, "Oh, I didn't realized you were a VIP, by all means please go ahead!"  She gave me kind of a nasty look but the security guard chuckled.  Like I said, I was cranky.
Here's a pic: 





Anyway......we enter the park and I"m thinking, Good Lord its crowded.  Then I realized it was a rope drop opening ceremony.  We'd never seen one before.  It was pretty cool actually, helped lighten my mood, despite the mean lady, early morning, and this crowd:






This was our first time to this park, and all we really knew about it was that it was about movies, and we had to ride ToT and RnR as priorities.  Having never been here, I knew we had to go to the right after rope drop, beyond that there was no plan LOL.

Lights! Camera! Action!  Hollywood here we come! And they're off.  It was like a 75% off sale at a toy store the day after thanksgiving.  Everyone booked it.....booked it to the right of course lol.  Still, we found where we going without problems.  We got fastpasses first for ToT and then got in line for it.  I was thinking we'd ride it more than once.  The wait was about 15 minutes.  I snapped a few pics on the way:















As far as the ride itself goes, holy crap!  I knew it would be amazing, but I totally didn't expect to be so shaken by it!  I'm a thrill ride junkie after all, right?  Well, I screamed like a girl (no offense the girls of course).  Generally on rollercoasters etc, I will scream and yell, but out of fun.  This ride genuinely scared me   and I didn't expect it to.  When we got off we had to sit.  I was shaking.  Gosh what a rush.

Needless to say we opted to not use our FPs for a second ride this day and gave them to a couple in line at the FP machines.  They were so grateful, little did they know.  Anyway.

After a brief break to recover we went on: 






This is a great roller coaster!  No, its not the fastest or has the most inversions of any ride we've been on, but it is way fun!  

After the roller coaster we just wandered really, trying to figure out how this park was laid out.  Its completely different from the other parks and took some getting use to really.  We went on the great movie ride (cute) and sounds dangerous (yawn).  I think lack of sleep was really affecting us, neither of use really wanted to be at this park.  We decided to eat and head back to MK.  In retrospect we should have headed back to MK and THEN eaten.  Hindsight is 20/20.  

We ate at the ABC Commissary.  Daniel took our order, he was a riot.  Steve had the Lost fish and chips, and I had the Ugly Betty burger.  Does abc know they have named crappy food after their best 2 shows?  Yikes!  This is what they looked like:




Steve said the fish was actually OK.





That's what was left of my burger.  It wasn't really very good.  No worries tho, we here having dinner at Hoop Dee Doo later tonight, and that was bound to be fantastic, right?    (actually it was great).

So on this happy note we leave DHS and head back to MK.  I wasn't really paying too much attention to the time but we arrived on Main Street just before 3!  Lo and behold that's parade time!  We find a spot just on the entrance side of Casey's to watch without an obstructed view!  Whoohooo!  At least, until this girl showed up:




The poor man sitting on the curb in front of me kept getting smacked in the head by her bag as she reached her arms out in front of me as I tried to take pics.  Finally I said to her, "Excuse Me!" and she backed off for a bit.  Then she leaned in one more time and kneed the man in the back and he looked at her and said "No! Move back!"  she apologized and muttered something in what sounded like Portuguese and left.  Whew!

We got some cool parade pics tho!














Am I the only one who thinks Peter Pan looks like Clay Aiken?  But I digress...

So after the parade we head into the Adventureland/Frontierland area.  We had done everything that was a must do at EMH so we were in no hurry.  I took a couple of pics the work being done at Splash, here's one:






I wished it was open, but there's always next time!  

So we head to the exit and ride the boat to the Wilderness Lodge.  We were early for our HDDR but had always wanted to this resort so we thought we'd stop on the way.  It is gorgeous.  Someday maybe we'll get to stay there.  From there we take a bus to Fort Wilderness for the dinner show.  I hop on one of the foot massager barrels, but it just ate my money.  Oh well.  Dogs will have to keep barkin' I guess!

Standing in line to get in there was a family behind us who sounded like they did little to no planning for this trip.  They sounded like the Sopranos:  Him: "Why did youse choose this?  Like I want some friggin cornbread and ice tea!" Her: "I thought the kids might like it, they'll be too old to appreciate it soon".  Him: "The kids?  What about me?  This is one of them country ho down things, right? Her: "They have chicken and ribs, you like ribs".  Him "They have ribs?  Why did you order me the chicken, you said you ordered the chicken dish"  Her: "I didn't order you chicken.  You don't listen, just shut up".  I was trying not to laugh.  We ran into a similar situation of poor planning at AK, but we'll get to that later.

If you haven't seen the HDDR, you have to go!  It was a wonderful time.  We were on the DDP and so were in Category 2 seating, but we had an awesome seat!  We were on the second floor right in front of the sound/light booth.  The view was perfect.  Yeah we were as far from the stage as you can get but its a small theatre so that didn't matter.  Our server was a bit odd, very over the top and kind of plastic-y if that makes any sense, but he was attentive.

Here are some pics:













If you haven't seen the HDDR I highly suggest it!  We had so much fun and the food was pretty good actually.  As far as cost goes, just remember that you are paying more for the show than the food, and the show is worth it (not to mention the included alcohol, we had a pitcher of sangria  !)

Back to POR via bus (they were waiting as we exited Pioneer Hall) for a good night's sleep.  We had to sleep in tomorrow, and sleep in we did!

Thanks for reading, seey'all next time....


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## OrlandoMike

All the servers at the HDDR are a bit odd.....

CopncK, care to explain......

Great TR!


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## ConcKahuna

OrlandoMike said:


> All the servers at the HDDR are a bit odd.....
> 
> CopncK, care to explain......
> 
> Great TR!



Like the person who introduces themselves with their name forward and backwards drives a car that looks like it is being held together with UFO society bumper stickers...


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## BarleyJack

ConcKahuna said:


> Like the person who introduces themselves with their name forward and backwards drives a car that looks like it is being held together with UFO society bumper stickers...



I think our server's name was Richard if memory serves me correctly.  I don't remember him referring to himself as Drahcir, but honestly it wouldn't have surprised me


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## ConcKahuna

BarleyJack said:


> I think our server's name was Richard if memory serves me correctly.  I don't remember him referring to himself as Drahcir, but honestly it wouldn't have surprised me



Nope, the one I have in mind has a three-letter name, and backwards it sounds like someone who isn't interesting, or one of Pumbaa's cousins...


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## OrlandoMike

Lets just put it this way.....

Roy Disney hired most of them!


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## CanadianGuy

I bet at least one of them is convinced he/she was hired by Walt!

Ahem.

Knox


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## BarleyJack

Well alrighty then.  They did seem to be a bit more ummm, aged than the other servers we ran into.  I hear someone has to die for a new server to get a job there.  I've also heard they are the highest paid waitstaff of any restaurant at WDW.  Not sure I understand why.  Seems that its easier to carry a bunch of buckets of pre determined/timed food than it would be to serve at a place like V&A.  But what do I know......


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## ConcKahuna

BarleyJack said:


> Well alrighty then.  They did seem to be a bit more ummm, aged than the other servers we ran into.  I hear someone has to die for a new server to get a job there.  I've also heard they are the highest paid waitstaff of any restaurant at WDW.  Not sure I understand why.  Seems that its easier to carry a bunch of buckets of pre determined/timed food than it would be to serve at a place like V&A.  But what do I know......



I've seen the pay sheets, most of them bring home about $4k a week.  There are 2 reasons for this.  1)  3 shows a night, 7 nights a week, and except in the slowest seasons all 3 shows are booked solid.  2)  Garunteed 18% tip off of each and every table.  

So let's say a server has 6 tables per show, and all of their tables are in category 2 seating (lots of folks on the DDP, and dinner shows still include tips).  The gratuity for a part of 4 adults in tier 2 is just a few cents under $30.  So we'll say the average is 4 people per table (each "section" will normally have a few larger and a few smaller tables).  When you have 6 tables (and I'm pretty sure they actually have 10 or 12) that's $180 a show in tips.  With three shows a night that's $540 if their section is full for all 3 shows, and $2700 for the week.  That's not including aditional gratuity that people may leave.

So really, would you give that up for anything short of death, especially when you're just dropping off buckets?


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## BarleyJack

ConcKahuna said:


> I've seen the pay sheets, most of them bring home about $4k a week.  There are 2 reasons for this.  1)  3 shows a night, 7 nights a week, and except in the slowest seasons all 3 shows are booked solid.  2)  Garunteed 18% tip off of each and every table.
> 
> So let's say a server has 6 tables per show, and all of their tables are in category 2 seating (lots of folks on the DDP, and dinner shows still include tips).  The gratuity for a part of 4 adults in tier 2 is just a few cents under $30.  So we'll say the average is 4 people per table (each "section" will normally have a few larger and a few smaller tables).  When you have 6 tables (and I'm pretty sure they actually have 10 or 12) that's $180 a show in tips.  With three shows a night that's $540 if their section is full for all 3 shows, and $2700 for the week.  That's not including aditional gratuity that people may leave.
> 
> So really, would you give that up for anything short of death, especially when you're just dropping off buckets?



No, I wouldn't give it up either.  Makes me wonder why I ever went to nursing school.  Oh well.


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## scottny

just found your report. u should pimp yourself out so people know. great report and pics so far. 

wasn't Riverside just great. I loved it. I had the french toast stuffed with bananas and I thought it was really good. 

looking forward to more.


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## I<3EvilQueen

I am so jealous at how great your pictures are.
And the pics of the half eaten food are just funny


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## OrlandoMike

I<3EvilQueen said:


> I am so jealous at how great your pictures are.
> And the pics of the half eaten food are just funny



I<3EvilQueen

We are all looking forward to your TR in three weeks!  How many days till you leave?   

Who's excited now?


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## I<3EvilQueen

OrlandoMike said:


> I<3EvilQueen
> 
> We are all looking forward to your TR in three weeks!  How many days till you leave?
> 
> Who's excited now?




I leave on Sunday.  And yes I am excited, but it will be a long week as everyone around me is sick and I am trying to fight them off with out getting sick myself.  Woke up this morning with the sniffles so I am going to try fixing that.


----------



## ConcKahuna

Are ya gonna come visit me?  I get bored at work!


----------



## TuckandStuiesMom

I<3EvilQueen said:


> I leave on Sunday.  And yes I am excited, but it will be a long week as everyone around me is sick and I am trying to fight them off with out getting sick myself.  Woke up this morning with the sniffles so I am going to try fixing that.



Lots of hot tea, vitamin C, and Zinc. And think positive thoughts


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

ConcKahuna said:


> Are ya gonna come visit me?  I get bored at work!



I am going to try.  PM me with your hours next week


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

TuckandStuiesMom said:


> Lots of hot tea, vitamin C, and Zinc. And think positive thoughts




Drinking tea now.  Need to stop by Kroger to get some Vit C.
And i am thinking good vibes by listening to the Disney Podcasts.


----------



## NHdisneylover

I<3EvilQueen said:


> Drinking tea now.  Need to stop by Kroger to get some Vit C.
> And i am thinking good vibes by listening to the Disney Podcasts.



Don't forget that Zinc Sue told you to take!  I swear by that stuff Now that BArely Jack no longer needs it I'll send the virtual chicken soup your way--do not want to be sick at the World 

Barley Jack--You did pick the worst counter service on property (on my humble opinion) for lunch at HS Luckily you got plenty of other good food on the trip.  I am so enjoying the TR--thanks


----------



## OrlandoMike

And lots of Echinacea!

Lots of CM's are sick because of the guests that bring us colds from up north!

But on the bright side, the weather has been great!


----------



## 2moms

Lovin' the TR so far!  Your pics are awesome!  Can't wait for the next installment....

I<3 ... Take AIRBORNE...DP swears by it, you'd think she had stock in the company or something.  It does seem to work though.  Hope you have a great trip!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Pre-Trip:
I was in a continuous battle to fight off all the co-workers that were sick in the office around me.  Armed with vitamins and other meds, I fought the battle well but had some loses.  So as the day of the trip arrived I had a bit of a stuffy nose each morning and a post nasal drip (TMI).  But I soldiered on, as a stuffy nose won't stop me.

Arrival Day (Feb 10th):
The alarm went off at 5am.  I was using my cell phone as I was over at friend's house so that we could just get up and go.  And just for the trip I sent my cell phone ring tone to the Mickey Mouse Club March.   We loaded up the car and were on the road by 6am.   Just before dawn it was really neat to see the stars (as we had escaped the lights of Atlanta).  And among the stars we got to see Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter all at the same time in a line across the sky.    And so we drove on.....till about 1pm.






We arrived and checked in at Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa.  My first impressions were: Nice but kind of theme-less and bland.  I am not a pastel fan so all the colors of the resort did nothing for me. But I did like the themeing of the horses, racetracks, and the artists that Saratoga was known for around 1890.   And of course the first thing we do as we walk into the room is to turn on the TV so we can get our Stacy "Top 7" fix.






My friends went to the gym to get their workout in as I explored the resort and we met up for our Spa treatments.  My friends were getting a Swedish massage and I signed up for a Gentleman's Facial.  I have always wanted a spa treatment so I was excited to be pampered and experience my first spa treatment.

They led us to the men's locker room and told us to strip down to what we are comfortable with and to put on a robe, the provided slippers and then wait in the Spa Lounge.   I was like "For a facial????"  ok. whatever.  Another TMI moment, I have thing about feet...ew... and I was appalled to put on these slippers that were horrible to walk in, let alone walk up and down stairs in.    I waited in the lounge for a bit and then was called into my private room for my facial.  I got to lay down and listen to the rain forest sounds and music. The skin expert was great except for one thing.  She was too quiet as she wanted me to relax to the music but I wanted to know about the products and what she was doing.  I am an information geek.  She started off the facial with a quick discussion of my skin and shaving routine and what products I use and don't use.  We talked about my "Zones" where I am oily and dry.   The facial was 50 min long, relaxing, informative, and the best part was she cleaned out the black heads that I had (TMI again).   My friends said that I looked about 5 years younger when I came out.   She even told me what to use on the dark circles under my eyes and way I have them.
Of course the products that were for sale there were expensive, and I didn't get them as I still had a whole week in the parks to spend money on.

After our spa treatments we walked over to Downtown Disney and shopped and walked around and ate at Cooks of Dublin (as we decided to try the DDP for the first time this year to experience it).   I had the Fish and Chips with the Doh Bar (deep friend snickers bar) for desert.   We headed back to the resort for an early night so that we could be at the Magic Kingdom for the Opening Ceremony.






to be continued... Next Chapter the Magic Kingdom


----------



## OrlandoMike

Quiz time.....

Can anyone spot the hidden Mickey on the horse statue?

(There are actually 3, but only one shows up in the pic)

So Ken, you had a facial, then had a deep fried candy bar for desert?    Only at Disney!


----------



## rpmdfw

OrlandoMike said:


> Quiz time.....
> 
> Can anyone spot the hidden Mickey on the horse statue?
> 
> (There are actually 3, but only one shows up in the pic)
> 
> So Ken, you had a facial, then had a deep fried candy bar for desert?    Only at Disney!



I'm assuming that you don't mean the one on the DVC logo, is that right?  That's the only Mickey I see.


----------



## OrlandoMike

Nope, keep looking...


----------



## Viki

Do you mean the one on the saddle (lower right corner)?


----------



## jamieandben

Is it the one on the Bridle?


----------



## rosiep

Going for the obvious-the one on the "blanket"..in between the mountain?


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

I know where it is as I saw it live.


----------



## rpmdfw

jamieandben said:


> Is it the one on the Bridle?



Good catch!  I completely missed it!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Magic Kingdom Day (Feb 11th)
Got up early, and got dressed with my mouse ears included and took Disney Transportation off to the Magic Kingdom.  We basically took the bus so that we could be dropped off right at the gate and not have to fiddle with the TTC.  Granted that meant no monorail on this trip, but oh well.   






We got there about 15 minutes until the Opening Ceremony and since I have never seen it before it was fun to watch.  I had a blast wearing my Mouse Ears all day.   Usually we head to Adventureland first work our way around the Kingdom that way, but this time we headed to Tomorrowland first as I had never seen the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor and my friends wanted me to be "That Guy".   And of course I had no clue what "That Guy" was.  I liked the attraction alot.   I ended up NOT being "That Guy", but was impressed at the level of tech and that the jokes didn't suck.   We finished out Tomorrowland (even including Tomorrowland Speedway which I have never been on before) and had lunch at Cosmic Ray's.










Of course and old joke of ours was that I accidentally called the Astro Orbiter as the Astroglide Orbiter, so that we now have to ride it every trip and refer to it by that name.

Loved the refreshed Haunted Mansion.  I was in awe. The ride was stopped by spirits when I was right infront of the bride so it was neat to see the new effect for a while before it started again.
Had a Dole Whip Float AND a Mickey Bar
Another thing that I have never done before that I got to experience this trip was riding the WDW Railroad all the way around the Kingdom. 










The thing I was looking forward to the most was having dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table and getting to see the inside of the Castle.  We got our photo with Cinderella done and I was joking with her that I use her Blueberry Lip balm, and how she was thrilled with it.  We joked that I was wearing my Evil Queen shirt and how she might have to warn Snow White about me.   I was given a sword as I was a Royal Guest and when annouced to the gathering that my table was ready and and I could regally climb the stairs to the feast....I tripped up the stairs.   Then being so flustered, I tripped up them again.  Gotta love being a klutz.






I loved the resturant, the decor was exactly what I expected the meal was good (except for the Roasted Pear desert which was my fault as I thought it was a hot desert instead of a cold).  The show with the fairy godmother was great especially when the lights all dimmed and the tinkling light effect took over.  












With ten minutes to spare we excited the resturant to watch Wishes.  Our intent was to watch it from somewhere in near Fantasyland as we thought that would be our only exit from the resturant.  But we were a bit surprised when the very Hellga-ish woman pointed us out the direction of the Forecourt Stage.  With only minutes to go before Wishes we exited out the castle and there were thousands of people looking directly at ME.  My first thought was "don't Trip" but then it was like a scene out of Evita and I had to resist raising my hands in the air to my people.  Or expecting them to bow to me like in Mulan.  But the energy level was incredible.  I know they weren't waiting for me, but being a former stage actor I connected with that energy immediately and I was physically sweeped away by it and physcially stunned for a second or two.... and then my puckish side took over and I started to wave to my "subjects" as I came down the ramp.  The CM that was manning the rope was laughing and even turned to my friends and said "If I didn't know better I would have guessed they served alcohol up at Cindy's."   Since we really couldn't move past the masses of people gathered there to watch the fireworks we got a front row "seat" for the show.  I figured it would have been a bad angle to see all the smaller fireworks but it turned out not to be too bad a spot.

Next Chapter... Disney's Hollywood Studios


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

And this is my apology to Conck.  I meant to visit you at work, but I got swept away with my new boyfriend


----------



## rosiep

I love it! I love it!
 Was the food ok at Cindy's? How about the noise level?

PS..You're new boyfriend is soooooooooooooo cute!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

rosiep said:


> I love it! I love it!
> Was the food ok at Cindy's? How about the noise level?
> 
> PS..You're new boyfriend is soooooooooooooo cute!



The food was really good the butter for the preztel rolls were divine. It was a honey butter.

I had the BLT Salad, and the Grilled Pork Tenderloins with a port reduction sauce with this mushroom bacon stuff that was good

and the noise level wasn't bad. I was very surprised.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

rosiep said:


> I love it! I love it!
> Was the food ok at Cindy's? How about the noise level?
> 
> PS..You're new boyfriend is soooooooooooooo cute!




well lets counts the ways:

He has three legs
Two Tongues


----------



## OrlandoMike

jamieandben said:


> Is it the one on the Bridle?



DING DING DING!  We have a winner!  If you ever see this in person the other two are 1. On the Jockeys back and 2. In the blanket of roses, you kind of have to look for that one.


----------



## jamieandben

What did i Win?


----------



## OrlandoMike

jamieandben said:


> What did i Win?



A free membership to the Dis!


----------



## Viki

Great, great photos!!!


----------



## TuckandStuiesMom

I<3EvilQueen said:


> well lets counts the ways:
> 
> He has three legs
> Two Tongues



Deffo a keeper!


----------



## rosiep

I<3EvilQueen said:


> well lets counts the ways:
> 
> He has three legs
> Two Tongues



Share????


----------



## TuckandStuiesMom

Oooooooohhhh there are SO many little smartypants things I could say here -- BUT-- I don't wanna get banned...We are *AWFUL*, Rosie!  

Home sick today -- just had a nice hot bubble bath after an oh-so nutritious breakfast of Breyer's natural vanilla outa the box.  

Mr. EQ -- am TOTALLY loving your TR!!!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

TuckandStuiesMom said:


> Mr. EQ -- am TOTALLY loving your TR!!!



Thanks.  I know it is slow in posting each day but I am reviewing my photos and catching up at work too.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Disney Hollywood Studios Day (Feb 12th)
We pulled into the back enterance of the parkinglot and were happy to see that we were parked close to the gates (so we basically just walked).  We got there 5 mins to park opening.  I was hoping there was a show but either there wasn't or we missed it.   I was excited to see that from the enterence we could see some people and a ladder on the Earfel Tower, and that it looked like the painters were going to be there.  I was excited as I was hoping to get a scoop for the Disney online community.










Headed down Sunset Blvd so that we could hit the big two right away.  We toured with Aeorsmith and checked into the Hollywood Tower Hotel.  I had one of the scarey moments of my life at the end of the ride too.  I was in the last seat in row four of the elevator.  So I was right there at the mesh.  As the elevator finished its drop sequence, and pulled into the unload sequence I looked over and there right infront of me, about what seemed 3 inches from my face was a creepy ventiloquist doll.  I know that gave out a quick yell of fright, but I hope it wasn't too loud and school girlish, but I know that the whole car turned to look my way as I tried to explain what it was that startled me.






Next stop was the Great Movie Ride, as one of my favorite themes played (007) I was looking at the footprints out front as my friends were pin shopping at the Hat.  The wait for the Great Movie Ride wasn't long but I was excited to see they were running two cars and that for the first time EVER, I got the cowboy scene, and got to see the bank explode.  Our driver was a CM named Gem and she grinned as I called her "Truly Outragous".

The cowboy that kidnapped our car was HOT.  I don't think I paid any attention to what he was saying just looking at his dark blue eyes, and thinking for a different genre of movies that the Great Movie Ride doesn't cover  *wink*

Next it was off to Endor. Got to see the Jedi Training Academy for a brief bit before it started to rain. Luckily we were already at the Backlot Express for lunch.






I have to say that I wasn't that impressed with the Backlot Express.  I was surprised that I felt that way as the prop shop in college was one of my favorite places to hang out when I wasn't on stage.  But this kind of just seemed throw together when you look at other Disney Themed eatries.  And the lunch I had was lack-luster too.  I had the Grilled Turkey and Cheese sandwich (with arugula and red peppers). It was very bland.  

After lunch we headed to Muppets and then pretty much just waited around to see if the rain would let up.  It did let up just before Lights, Motors, Action so I got to see that again for only my second time.


















Now for the next part I have to give you some background.  I detest the Backlot Tour. I find it boring and pretty much just a parade of useless junk.   My friends and I jokenly exclaim that the Tour is really just a facade to showcase the icon of new and great religion that is on the verge of sweeping the planet.  That of the Great Space Walnut (the ship from the Navagator).  So we had to ride the Tour to see the Walnut.

After awhile we made our way back up to Animation Courtyard and got inline for one of my favorite attractions and that is the Animation Studio (where you get to draw a character).  Last year we drew Pluto and this year the animator walked us through drawing Donald.  The CM wasn't as good as last year's and no one in the Studio drew a good Donald, but it was fun none the less.

For Dinner we had an ADR at Mamma Melrose.  This was my first time at the resturant and I enjoyed the food, but the service was horrible.  Our waitress wasn't listening to me when I was explaining my concerns with a possible allergy, and she was just plain SLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWW.   We were trying to explain to her that we were trying to get to Fantasmic (if it was running due to weather) but she was just no where to be found for about 15 min.






But I did get a nice and unfortunate chuckle at Mamma Melrose.  There is a chef there that is on the very plus size, and this small boy came in saw the chef and just yelled "Gusteau" (the dead chef from Rattatoui).  I couldn't help but laughing as the chef was shocked and yet was still being nice to the child.






We made it to Fantasmic, and was surprised to see that they were going to run a show of it during EMH.  We debated if we were going to stay that long and because we were damp we just decided to see the first show and then slowly head out for the evening.

And even though I was tired and damp, I stopped in to say hi to OrlandoMike as he was working a double.  So I got to briefly chat for a bit, but didn't want to take up too much of his time as he was busy. 

Next Chapter... Animal Kingdom


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Animal Kingdom Day (Feb 13th)
Jambo Everyone, in this installment we head to Animal Kingdom. I know it isn't the "cool" thing to say but I love this park, to me it feeds my spiritual side, as a Wiccan we strife to see the connection to everything in life and to respect the divine that exsists inside every living thing. And here at the Animal Kingdom the conservation message really speaks to me, and we never seem to get everything done during the day (so I don't believe the arguement that it is half day park).











We decided to change things up this time and headed to Kilimenjaro First, instead of Everest.  The ride seemed longer than I remembered, and as it was early in the morning and cloudy it seemed more animals were out than I remember. 

Next we headed over to a section of the park that I haven't done in four years, we headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see Festival of the Lion King and Pocahontas and her Forest Friends.  I had forgotten how much I love the message of the Pocahontas show (despite its sharp cheddar-ness).
















After leaving Camp Minnie-Mickey we were trying to decide where to eat lunch in a bit, when the winds picked up and we decided to eat at Pizzafari as we were staying right infront of it and it was empty at the moment, but it as it looked like it was going to rain at any second (it wasn't going to stay empty for long).  In my on going attempt to prove you can get other things at counterservice besides a burger, pizza, or hot dogs; I got the Hot Italian Sandwich (with Turkey, ham, Swiss and Provolone Cheese topped with Caesar salad and pesto marinated tomatoes)  It was really good, it was "interesting" to have my salad in my sandwich though.   And as expected the skies opened up and drenched everyone outside. Luckily it passed over by the time we were done with lunch and it was dry for the rest of the day.






We headed back to Africa to shop at one of my favorite shops (Zwiani Traders), and hit the Pangani Trail and to Rafiki's Planet Watch.  We missed to last surgury that was being done at Planet Watch but I got some photos with a few characters (and I guess I shouldn't have had those extra Mickey Bars as I thought I looked fat in these).



















It was off to Asia and over to my favorite ride: Everest.  Due to the rain the park cleared out a bit more so we were able to ride Everest twice in a row with barely any wait.   Riding it twice gave us more oppurtunity to do our Animal Kingdom tradition a bit more... that tradition is to make funny faces or situations for the Ride Photo.  This time as I was in the front seat of the car I had room to cross my leg and pretended to be enjoying a nice hot cup of English tea as we went over the hill, as my friends were pretending to panic in the back row.  If I can get the picture from my friend and get it scanned, I'll try to remember to post it here.






Next it was off to one of my favorite areas, Dinoland.  We had enough time to ride Primeval Whirl and Dinosaur before heading over to see Nemo: The Musical.   We sat up close for the show and it was an interesting view to be so close this time.  I was glad this wasn't my first time seeing the show as the sitelines weren't great.  But I got to see more of the technical production of the show.  It was now getting closer to the time for our ADR, so we headed over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek.   After watching the Tigers and the Bats (which were very active due to the light level and the time of the evening) we headed to the Yak and Yeti.















I really liked this place. The food was very good (I had the duck), and even got the Monk's Blend tea.  We had an interesting discussion with our server about Disney's deal with Landry's.  When we got our check it was only about half of what it should have been (we were on the DDP so we were looking for the total to figure out the exact tip).   She was a great waitress and we upset to see that it looks like the wait staff gets stiffed due to the "deal" (I can explain this more later if you want).

By the time we got out of dinner, the set had set and I was excited as I have never been in the Animal Kingdom after dark. I loved the look, as it appeared even more wild and adventurous.  I bought myself some of the Monk's Blend tea to take home with me, as we headed over to Everest to ride it at night.... and LOVED it even more.    After making more faces at the Yeti (which was in B mode all day) we headed back to Dinoland to play some of the carnival games as I wanted a stuffed animal.   Since one of my friends is a whizz a games we knew he would win so it didn't cost us much to get the largest prize (we basically only had to play once).   The prize was so large that knew I wouldn't have room at home for it, so I ended up giving it to the daughter of my friend that was dogsitting for me.   We rode Dinosaur one last time and did the "See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil" for the Ride Photo.

After that it was some more shopping before heading out for the evening.

Next Chapter.... My Non-Park Day


----------



## rosiep

Ken-thanks so much for taking the time to write. I really appreciate the Wiccan attitude. I was at a Solstice party recently and a Wiccan gave a little speech regarding the change; she was so thoughtful and elegant.

My mom has never seen the AK, I'm looking forward to taking her there this trip.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Free Day (Feb 14th)
Or the day I call the beginning of the end.   During our last three trips one of my friends has wanted to go to one of the water parks and each time the others of us decide on something else so we all promised that if it was indeed the water park he wanted to do this time, then that is what we would do, no exceptions.  Well that was before we found out that Thursday was going to be the coldest day of the trip.   Two of us already had sinus issues, and we were hoping my friend would choose wisely about going to the water park..... well Nope.  So in order to keep a promise and keep trip harmony it was off to Typhoon Lagoon (or Typhoid Lagoon we later called it) in 55 degree weather.






This was my first time to a Water Park at Disney, and I was told that towels were provided so I didn't pack one of my large, thick beach towels... No we had to pay a dollar for this small, thin towel that I don't even think a thin person could use to walk around the house after a shower (and cover up modestly).   So I grabbed up my thin towel, my shirt, and my silly-putty (yep.. I said silly-putty).  I was born with some issue to my ears and basically all my life have to keep water from getting in my ears. So when I was  a kid the doctors said to use silly-putty as earplugs so that I can keep the tubes in my ears from getting wet.   The reason I tell you this will be important later.

So there I am at the big wave pool...shivering.  The sign said the temperature of the water was 83, but the air temp was around 55.  I told my friends I would see what the water was like and go on the Crushin' Gusher as Stacy raves about it on the "Top 7".  I at first decided I was going to wear my shirt into the water as I didn't lose all the weight that I had wanted, but then the logic part of my brain took over and said "Dummy...keep the shirt dry so you can warm up quicker".  So I scanned the waterline for someone that was fatter and hairy than me, and I struck gold... Out of the water came these two guys one was about 300 pounds and wore a tiny speedo... I chuckled at the site and swore at myself for leaving my camera in the locker.  The other guy looked like Cousin It in boxer shorts... so off with the shirt and quickly into the water I went.  It wasn't so bad when all of your body was submerged in the water.   We stayed in there for a bit and then decided to explore the rest of the water park.

We headed over to the Crushin' Gusher and got the three person raft. Ok so far as the air temp seemed to picked up a bit, not that you could tell from the push pins sticking out of my shirt by this point, despite the fact that I tried to stretch this tiny towel to cover my shoulders and much of my upper body as possible from the "bitter artic" air.  By this point I was being annoying on purpose saying every two minutes how cold it was.   I was trying to cope.   So as we climbed the tower of Crushin Gusher it got worse... the standing water, and the wind hitting the tower as you rose into the air... My feet were numb with cold.. All I could think of was wanting to get back in the water to warm up.  We got to the top and the ride was actually alot of fun.   Then we moved on to the Lazy River, and this I could have done all day long.  The fact that there was this cute 20 year old French guy near me the whole time smiling at me didn't hurt) *wink*  The air didn't seem as cold there (until you got to the areas where small streams of water squirt out at you, or the water fall).   It must have been somewhere in the Lazy River that I lose the egg that carried the rest of my silly-putty (I don't know why I didn't leave it with the towel and my shirt).  So I all I had was the small amount in my ears and so I didn't have anywhere to really keep it dry and clean at now.   So I continued to walk around with it in my ears and keep looking at the Lazy River to see if a red egg would float by.  No luck.  So we went to lunch at one of the counter service areas there where I proclaimed that I was done, that I think I got water in my ear.  I stated I would lay on the beach and soak up the rays of the sun while the rest of my party rode more rides if they wanted.   Well we decided we all done.











So it was off to Fantasia Gardens for a round of putt-putt.  And this where the trip started to turn bad.  It seemed with every stroke of the putter I started to feel worse.  Putt....sneeze....putt....hacking cough.  And of course the healthy one continued to stay healthy.  Friends... gotta love 'em.  

From Fantasia Gardens we headed over to the Boardwalk to get some cold medicine and explore the resorts over there.  It was then I needed a serious nap before our annual trip dinner at Boma.  After the nap and several more pills of cold meds, it was off to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner, then back to the room to sleep and pray that I can make it through the next day at Epcot.






And here is the warning of our tale. No it isn't about the water park or the stupidity of your friendly narrator.  No it is something I want to tell you about the changes I have discovered about VISA gift cards.  Every year my step-mother gives me some VISA gift cards to take on the trip.  Well they have changed this year.  It used to be that what ever was left on the card (even if it was 50 cents) was just deducted from the total owed.  Well the policy is that if the item you are trying to purchase is above the amount left on your gift card, the card is declined.   So here I was trying at every shop to look for items that cost $1.63 and $0.53 (not easy at Disney) because I wasn't going to let VISA just keep that money as to me seems very unfair and even unethical.   So don't get the VISA Gift cards anymore if you can help it.

Next Chapter... Epsnot


----------



## 2moms

I<3EvilQueen said:


> Next Chapter... Epsnot



  Sorry to hear about your gradual decline in health during your trip!  Lovin' the TR so far, you have some awesome pics!


----------



## rosiep

Thanks for the heads up on the Visa cards..I bet they make a ton of money this way...Greedy so and so's.....makes me so mad!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

rosiep said:


> Thanks for the heads up on the Visa cards..I bet they make a ton of money this way...Greedy so and so's.....makes me so mad!




It is my new mission in life to use every cent of what is on the cards some how.  I need to find a store that sells penny candy or something like that.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

Epcot Day (Feb 15th)
Woke up took more meds.  I knew I could make it through the day, but it wouldn't be pretty.  I apologize right now that I didn't take that many pictures at Epcot as I just wasn't up to taking that many, as it was taking most of my concentration not to walk into a pole while sneezing.

We got to Epcot for the rope drop. As this was suppose to be the opening day of the new version of Spaceship Earth (officially) I headed there to check with the CM if this was going to be true.  She stated that they are trying to open it up but it was not going to open right at rope drop as they were still working on something.

So we had to make the quick decision do we join the herd of people heading to Test Track or do we join the Soarin' Parade?  So we headed off to the Land at a fast clip.  In the pavillion the workers were there cheering everyone on with drums and other music makers.  We didn't have to wait long for our trip over California so it wasn't bad.

We headed over to Spaceship Earth next and I was excited to see the changes.  As I already saw the YouTube videos about the changes (from around Mousefest) I was a bit nervous about the ride and how it was going to be.  I made a goofy face when they took my picture (see below).  The first part of the ride was great. I was saddened to see the Greek scene was changed from the theatre but it was still nice.  The decent was interesting, it isn't the grand relaxing ride down that it used to be, but it is at least fun now.  Here is what they do with the picture they take at the front now.






Then it was off to the Seas and boarded our Clamobile and I saw Turtle Talk for the first time.  Then was lunch back at the Land at the Seasons counterservice.   After lunch it was off to Innoventions for the first time and I got to walk through the House of tomorrow.  Then it was over to Test Track to pick up a fast pass.

Now that we were down with Future World it was off to World Showcase:
Grande Tour - Rode it for the first time, not sure yet if I like it over the Rio de Tiempo
Norway - Maelstrom and I actually stayed to see the movie for the first time.
China - Saw Reflections of China for the first time.
Skipped over Germany as we were eating at Biergarten later
Skipped over Italy as there were some performers there and it was packed.
American Adventure - always love it
Japan - shopping
Skipped over Morroco, France, and the UK as I needed to get to Canada
Canada - bought some Maple Tea (yummmmmmmmmmm) saw the renewed O'Canada for the first time.






Then it was back to Germany for our ADR at Beirgartden.  As I had mentioned before I was nervous about this meal as my last name is very German and what if I didn't like the food and culture of my people?  *wink*.   Our table was right out front of the stage and if i wasn't on cold meds I so would have ordered Reisling and/or a beer.  The hostess gave me a stern lecture on how to pronounce my last name properly (in German).   The hostess wanted us to pull a slight prank on our waiter as apparently he left his CM name tag at home and had to wear a new one and the policy is that he had to pretend to be the name on the new tag.  So we were call him Tommy (his real nickname) and not Thorton (the name on the badge he was wearing).  

The fact that he was so cute and adorable, just added to the fact that I kept making sure he blushed and grinned (as it added to that twinkle in his blue eyes, and you know I love blue eyes with dark hair).

I really enjoyed the show and the food.  The Snitzle there was really good, and I loved all the sausages, and the Hunter Sauce.  I was surprised at home much of the food I already knew from growing up and visiting relatives.   I tried to sway along to the music and participate in the show and I pushed through to do, but it caused me to cough everytime.  I wished I wasn't as medded up as I was, because I could have eaten alot more if I was on my game.

After dinner we had about hour before Illuminations so we headed to Test Track to use our fast passes.  Then it was back to World Showcase for Illuminations and then shopping and wandering around World Showcase during EMH.   We enjoyed a dessert at the bakery in France, and then back to Spaceship Earth before heading back to Saratoga Springs to pack and head home in the morning.

So that is pretty much it folks. Thanks for taking time to read of my adventures.


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## TuckandStuiesMom

Woo-Hoo! Great Trip Report! And it sounds like gettin' sick didn't get in the way of a good time too much!


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## I<3EvilQueen

TuckandStuiesMom said:


> Woo-Hoo! Great Trip Report! And it sounds like gettin' sick didn't get in the way of a good time too much!




Nah, not too much just from drinking my favorites in Epcot


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## Lightyear

I thought I would reply on the Visa gift card thing.  If the cashier knows what to do, you could enter the exact amount for example .52 cents and credit key and it will only send through that amount and not the entire portion.  Then it would leave whatever balance left with any method of payment. Sometimes you have to suggest this to the cashier for them to "remember"


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## NHdisneylover

Hey Ken,
I just had time to really read the last three days of reports and really enjoyed them.
I guess we are not cool either because we  love Animal Kingdom.  I do admit to missing Tarzan terribly though (Nemo is just not as good to me).  When you have time I would love to hear more about how the deal with Landrys and Yak and Yeti works.
It's too bad the weather os uncooperative on your water park day.  I hope you give Typhoon or Blizzard another try some time when it is HOT and you are well.  We tried them for the first time this past September and they were a highlight of our trip (we were really surprised by this).
Thanks for posting this report--it's fun to read


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## I<3EvilQueen

Lightyear said:


> I thought I would reply on the Visa gift card thing.  If the cashier knows what to do, you could enter the exact amount for example .52 cents and credit key and it will only send through that amount and not the entire portion.  Then it would leave whatever balance left with any method of payment. Sometimes you have to suggest this to the cashier for them to "remember"




That is what I thought too, and believe me I tried it at ever cashier in the world and outside of.  But the VISA cards have changed. I went back and re-read the Terms.  And if the if price of the item that you are looking to purchase is more than what is left on the card, it will be declined as the new cards are run as Credit cards and not Gift cards.    Now you can pay cash first and bring that total down to under the amount on the card and that will work, but not the other way around.


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## OrlandoMike

If a cashier knows what they are doing, and granted most dont, they can just pre-auth the gift card for the amount that is left on the card.

I do it all the time.

Now dont line up with all of your unused gift cards, or Dad will be angry!


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## zeitzeuge

My partner and I, along with our two best friends just got back from DLR this past weekend.  Our friends had never been to Disneyland so it was great being with them during their first experience.  They were so excited and walked around with their mouths open for the first hour.  

We arrived at 8am and immediately were told to run to the lady in the white vest.  She was passing out free Dream Fastpasses, so we didn't have to stand in line for most all the rides that day, which was nice since the weather wasn't cooperating.  It misted off and on for 1/3 of the day and by nightfall it was pretty chilly.  The only other drawback was that the parade and fireworks were cancelled due to the weather.  I really wanted them to experience that.  We had an incredible time despite all of that.

We're planning on trying to go to WDW at the end of this year possibly too.


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## TammieLand

Ken, this was a great report and I loved your photos!


Thank you so much- you made me tee-tee laugh a couple of times....


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## I<3EvilQueen

I mentioned in my Trip Report that my friends and I love to make funny faces and scenes when we are at the Animal Kingdom. It has become a tradition.  So here is the picture that I promised.   I was pretending that I was a veteran explorer and little things like a Yeti and a run-way train are just small petty things when I am trying to enjoy my tea.   As you can see my traveling companions felt otherwise.


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## TuckandStuiesMom

Great Pic!


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## StormTigger

Too funny!  Love the Pic!


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## insoin

I will have to post a TR when I get back from my trip in June.  I was to new to the DIS last year to make one.  But I have started a PTR if anyone is interested, the link is in my siggie


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## zulemara

Ok here we go! Travel, arrival, and Day 1!

We got up at...I don't even know what time on the 21st, but it was early. Usually when I'm up at that hour, I haven't gone to bed yet. I think it was about 5am. Neither of us are morning people, but somehow the excitement of getting out of this dreadful cold and the magic of Disney awaiting can shake that "I hate morning" feeling. I started the drive. We were on the road at 6:30 or 7:30, I don't remember which. I have this all written down in my Passport I bought, but I'm doing this from work so bear with me. Day 1 is long. Nothing but flat, boring, and insanely foggy Illinois. We arrived In Nashville within 12 hours and I think we stopped about 4 or 5 times. Not too shabby!

2nd day travel
Early departure again. I love the speed limit being 70. We drove 79 the whole time, cops didn't touch us, and traffic was moving faster at times. We used yahoo directions and for some odd reason, it decided NOT to send us on the 285 bypass of downtown Atlanta. Therefore yours truly got to drive through downtown Atlanta in a little prius going 85-90mph consistently in 8 lane traffic. How's that for fun??? I still got 40mpg hehe.
Unfortunately we hit a lot of traffic coming out of Atlanta and it didn't really let up much the entire way down there. Once we got into FL, the traffic was 55mph...stop....55mph....stop...repeat. I felt like I was in kindergarten again. I was terrified to follow closer than 100 ft because at any given time, the traffic might come to a dead halt. It got a little better once we hit the turnpike. I deviated from Yahoo because I wanted to avoid I-4. In doing so, we ended up a little off base, but all roads lead to Disney right? A quick detour on 192 and we were at WDW. I truly love that about Orlando. No matter where you are, there will be a sign for Disney. It's a beautiful thing

Arrival
ok we got to Disney I think around 7ish. Check in was nice and smooth. We were on the 3rd floor of the 60s building at POP century. Not a good view, but for 50% off, what do you expect right? We unpacked and decided to hit downtown disney for some quick shopping. I hate the burden of buying stuff for people hanging over my head so I wanted to get it out of the way asap. It was also a nice introduction to the world Ryan has never seen. KEY PURCHASE: we bought our mickey top hats. I knew it would be important for the next day 
This was one of only a few times we took the bus because I didn't want to drive at night my first day there. We got back to the hotel about midnight and went to bed.

Day 1, THE BIG DAY!
We got up bright and early and hit the food court for a quick breakfast. The park officially opened at 8am, but we got to the park about 7:45 and got right in. I covered his eyes and took him by the hand into Main Street. I took him dead center(and he LOVES christmas trees) and opened his eyes, gave him a kiss, and said Merry Christmas. Ugh, I'm gonna start crying typing this.

The photographer wasn't scheduled until 8:30 so I had to stall. We took a walk towards the castle holding hands when we were stopped by a cast member wearing a blue collared shirt. She asked if we were staying out of trouble and we said no, of course not. We talked with her and it was great since we had time to kill. So far everything was going great. You all know how high my expectations were for this trip and deep down I hoped that Disney would just push me over the edge and that they would do it without being prompted Once again, Disney delivered. It turns out she was a member of the DREAM SQUAD!!! AAAAHHHH
Since I'm a cast member, I'm not eligible, BUT Ryan and I do not live together and therefore the prize could be awarded to him. We were asked if we had any free time and were told to be at expedition hall at 1:20 for a private meet n greet with a Disney Princess! wwwooo!!!

We had to cut the talking a little short because we were gonna be late for the 300 dollar photo session LOL. I went to our meeting place and we met our photographer. He was a really nice guy. He told us when he interviewed for Disney he wore a daffy duck tie and told them daffy and bugs were his favorite characters! He's been with Disney for 15 years...go figure!


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## zulemara

Day 1 continued:

So we met with the photographer and went around the park getting pictures. We started in front of the train station at the entrance then went into a back area of the expedition hall then continued down main street. It's funny because when you take pictures with your own camera, most people don't notice and walk in front of you. If you have a photopass picture taken, usually people pay attention but some people are still idiots and will walk in the way. But let me tell you, when you have a photographer following you around, people MOVE. haha I love it!

We continued down main street and I told the photographer I wanted to give him the ring in front of the partners statue. He suggested the rose garden, which you can only stand in if you are doing this photo package, but after seeing how the pictures turned out, I'm glad I stuck to my guns. Call me cheesy, but giving a ring in front of the "partners" statue just hits home with me. I know it has nothing to do with my plight, but it's one of my favorite spots in all of WDW.
So I stopped in front of the statue and gave him the rings. I was sort of hoping there would be more people in the park, but it was DEAD! So much for making a big thing out of it! I have NO fear of crowds and was planning on using that to really get him, but oh well. I don't really remember what I said, but giving him the rings right then, and in front of that statue was a great way to start the trip. The photopass photographers around us clapped and we continued on our way. I was VERY pleased with the pictures we got. I really hope we end up in the running for best romantic photo because for me, a couple of those photos represent everything I love about Disney. ::wipes eyes:: ok enough crying...damnit I'm emotional about this stuff

After the photographer left us it was about 9:10 and we took off for the rides. I can't explain this at all, but we WALKED onto everything!!!! We got onto every major ride. I was SHOCKED! It actually got to the point where I went "now what???" Dare I say we were nearly bored at Magic Kingdom 2 days before x-mas. We did manage to find things to do and really take the time to enjoy the park. My plan all along was to make sure we got on the rides but also to make sure we weren't rushing. I wanted to just relax and stroll in the park. Disney puts so much effort into the environment at Christmas and I think sometimes people just ignore it because they just HAVE to get on the rides.
We saw the xmas parade, the castle show, the castle lighting ceremony, Spectro, and Wishes. With all that going on, we kept pretty busy especially since you have to site down 1.5 hours before the parade for a spot on the curb.

It was a beautiful 82 degrees and sunny. It was extremely foggy in the morning when we had our pictures taken, but it cleared up by the end and I actually like the aura it puts around the castle in some of the pictures.

That's all for now, Day 2 which features Dinner at V & A's and a fireworks cruise will be up next!
__________________
1995 first trip to WDW(10 years old)
2002 Second trip to WDW (18 years old, Senior in High School) marched in MK with the band
Aug 2004-May 2005 College Program Cast member :March 2005 3 day Disney Cruise
November 2005 Chaperoned high school band trip to Disney 
March 2006 7 day spring break Disney Cruise
December 22nd 2007-Jan 3rd 2008 was the most magical vacation I've ever been on!
visit my Trip Report!


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## zulemara

So where was I? aahh yes Day 2! The big day in terms of $$$$

We woke up at a reasonable hour and were once again greeted by a delightfully sunny, warm day. I usually hate Christmas for a number of reasons, but I just can't be pissy when it's 80 degrees on Xmas eve! We went to Downtown Disney to get some shopping out of the way. I always hate that part, so I try to get all the gifts for people taken care of early in the trip.

We got back to the hotel by 2 I think, took a little nap, then showered and got dressed for dinner at V&A's. I had arranged to be taken by luxury car through Mears since we had to be all dressed up. The car arrived at 4:30 and took us to the Grand Floridian. Ryan is a huge Xmas tree guy, so his eyes absolutely lit up when he saw the gigantic tree in the middle of the lobby. There was a pianist playing and kids everywhere. We had to get some directions, but eventually ended up at V&As. We were told to arrive by 5 and they would seat us even though they don't serve until 5:30. That was wrong. We ended up just letting them know we were there and then walking around. We stopped at one of those handy photopass kiosks to check out the photos we had thus far.

5:30 came and we entered the restaurant. It was absolutely amazing. With all the hustle and bustle outside, it was silent inside. It was very very sound proof! I don't have the menu in front of me to elaborate on what we ate, but needless to say it was all fantastic. I had been trying to decide if we wanted to do wine tasting or not, knowing it was an extra 60 dollars a person. In the end, I figured hey, I'm on vacation so screw it, we're doin it. It was a good decision. We had wine from the top 100 wine list to go with dishes I can only begin to understand. I had arranged ahead of time for the harpist to learn the Moulin Rouge version of Come What May, which is our song. He did, and he played it during his 3rd or 4th set. It really couldn't have been any better. The staff was well aware we were celebrating our 2 year anniversary and treated us very well. I had ordered a cake ahead of time as well and OMG was it GOOD! We ate that thing for the next 3 days in our room. mmmm so tasty! Perhaps one of the coolest things was that there was another gay couple at the table just behind us celebrating their 10 year anniversary. Given it was still early in the trip, I think it really helped Ryan understand that literally everywhere you go, you're probably going to encounter a gay person. I wonder how the fundamentalists handle WDW LOL. Anyway, that's a different subject 

I made the mistake of neglecting to tell our server that we had the fireworks cruise to catch right after dinner, so we had to sort of rush through desert, but it was fantastic nonetheless. We paid our bill(500 even with tip) and went on our way to the fireworks cruise dock. It took a couple tries, but we finally found the dock. The driver took my CC (CHA CHING there goes another 300) and off we went. They take you on a nice tour of the lake and place you in a great area to watch the electrical pagent. He got thrown off when the music on the boat started about 4 min early and it was the wrong version of wishes! He hurried over to his spot on the lake, and then at the scheduled time, the music started with the correct version. Whew! The view was fantastic and we got a couple good pictures. I really like the holiday edition of Wishes, maybe even better than the original. It was such a nice night, there was lots of snacks and pop on board, and the driver was very nice.

We got back to the dock, forced the driver to take a tip(3x rejection rule) and caught our luxury car for the way back to POP Century. We were pretty tired, so we went to bed early knowing we would be getting up at the crack of dawn to hit MK on Christmas Day.

So that's the end of day 2. I'll tell ya, after dining at vic and A's, I can barely eat Perkins LOL. We both enjoy dining out and once we move down there for good, I'm sure it's something we'll be doing quite a bit as long as the budget can handle it. It was a great day and seriously, the dinner was worth every penny. The cruise was great, maybe a little over priced, but it fit really well with the night and I hadn't planned on letting him see Wishes the night before, so it was supposed to be his first time seeing it. Oh well, live and learn! I will update the post with pics as soon as I can.


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## OrlandoMike

Great TR so far!


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## I<3EvilQueen

I believe I saw your pics on the Romantic catagory.  I loved them.


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## zulemara

I<3EvilQueen said:


> I believe I saw your pics on the Romantic catagory.  I loved them.



And I'm kicking myself for not choosing one where it's a little more obvious I'm giving him a ring

There are SSSOOO many more pictures though.  I think we took 450 total!  I was hoping I'd be able to scan the pictures they put in our "engagement" photo album, but the pages are glued shut with the pictures inside!  Sneaky little...

I might have to break down and buy the CD from the engagement photos.  eeek 300 dollars is not cheap, but I want to be able to reproduce them.  I realized my family doesn't have any pictures of me and Ryan up so I need to change that!

More will come, I've just been really busy.  I just found out I get to go in June courtesy of my best friend's parents! hurray!


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## TuckandStuiesMom

OrlandoMike said:


> Great TR so far!



DITTO!


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## TuckandStuiesMom

Mundania's been handing me a lil-bit-o the old character-building lately  but I WILL get my trip report posted SOMETIME. PROMISE!

*******************************************************
INSTALLMENT ONE:
Friday night – The boys and I head down to Phoenix in the BIG crew-cab truck (Total luxurious extravagance given gas prices) The stereo is blasting, we are chattering, and the 180 mi. trip passes surprisingly fast. We stop at Walgreen’s on the outskirts of the metroplex for rope, Ike and Mikes, sunscreen, and a few other essentials. The air is INCREDIBLE – slightly warm & something fragrant is blooming in the surrounding desert. I take it as a good sign.
We arrive at my daughter’s house (she’s out on the town but has agreed to take us to the airport in the morning) and settle in for the night. She has two little dogs – both of which are THRILLED to use the three new available humans alternately as trampolines and cuddle pillows/chew toys. Not the most restful of nights but HEY! It was Free! 

Saturday – Around 3 am, the grrlz arrive home. Since our flight leaves at 6:00 and it is a WHOLE LOT easier to keep a rock star up late than to get her up early, I make the tactical decision to get the boys up and head to the airport. Needless to say, we are first in line to check our odd assortment of luggage. At the gate before 4:30, we try to snooze a little before getting on the plane. 
The flight was uneventful. We all had something good to read.  I hunkered down with The Kite Runner and boys had a couple magazines – Time and Wired. Some people I know have come to despise air travel anymore. I still love it -- Is there anything better than an opportunity to read a really good book in one sitting? 
One interesting (to me anyway) observation – my youngest son actually likes Southwest’s little snack boxes. Apparently 100 calorie pack chocolate chip cookie shavings are one of his preferred noshes. Who knew??? Something he has in common with anorexic models everywhere…difference is, he eats his, mine and his brother’s in one sitting. 
We arrive at MCO and it looks like rain is imminent. YIKES! We still have to put our tent up when we get to Fort Wilderness. We scamper down to Magical Express, our bus is waiting and we are ON OUR WAY! Woo-Hoo!
Our check-in is uneventful and the good folks at FW haul us (and our tent) to our campsite.  I was hoping to get a space in the 100 loop – that didn’t happen. But it’s all good. We’re in the 400 loop at its closest point to the petting zoo and marina. SWEET! 
We get the tent up in about 15 minutes and it is PALATIAL – 10 X16, two rooms, windows all the way around – I LOVE IT (biggest and best thing I ever ebayed—Woo-hoo again!).  We make sure the rain-fly is on straight and tight -- because it is actually starting to spit a little rain down on us.  Right about then our luggage arrives – so we go ahead and get our beds inflated and sleeping bags spread out.  Looks pretty dang home-y.
 We eat a totally yummy buffet dinner at Trail’s End and then head over to EPCOT for a quick look-around. Funniest thing – at Club Cool, we encounter a fella from Italy who is encouraging newbies to try the Beverly. (That is SO my favorite thing to do but it’s even better with the authentic Italian accent offering encoragement). We wander around some more but head back to FW pretty early because we are somewhat sleep-deprived from the night before.
We fall asleep pretty early to the gentle patter of raindrops on the tent roof. In all the excitement though, I forget to change out my flip-flops for socks and sneakers before heading to EPCOT. WHAT WAS I THINKING????  I WILL live to regret this lapse of judgement in the ensuing days.
*Tomorrow: Meeting up with the rest of the crew; Princess Aurora on the run, and Heh, Heh, Heh.
*


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## I<3EvilQueen

PART 1 
We left Atlanta around 6am Sunday morning on the 17th. We stopped by Waffle House for our Trip Fuel and off we were to the Wettest Place on Earth  

I'll apologize now for the lack of pictures as with TS Fay I didn't get many, and then when I got home I learned that my router was dead. 

SUN - 17th 
We pulled into Saratoga Springs about 1pm. Check in was longer than I have ever seen, but then we usually come in Feb. So I don't know it if it was the time of year or if a Magical Express just unloaded. We got to our room around 2pm and we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon. 

Rode Crushin' Gusher, the Storm Slides, Keelhall Falls, and Castaway Creek (where I think I took a short nap). Then we headed over to the Wave Pool. I left that after I kept getting elbowed by others, once in the neck. 

We were back at the Resort around 4:30pm to shower and rest up for our ADR at Artist Point. I was really looking forward to the dinner, as it is billed as one of the premire dinners. I am happy to report that dinner was great. I had the Portabello Mushroom Soup and it was to die for, I even asked for the recipee. I had the Buffalo steak as my entree, and enjoyed it with a nice glass of wine. Since the meal was so rich and bad for my tummy, I opted for the Sugar Free berry and Muscat Wine sauce desert. 

MON 18th 
Today was our Hollywood Studios day. The lines here were more than I am used to, again we usually come in Feb. We headed to Toy Story Mania first thing. We got there at 9:30 and the fast passes were already for 2pm. We got a fast past and got in the stand by line. 40 min wait. Loved Toy Story Mania, it was better than I expected. We rode: Toy Story Midway Mania (twice), GMR, Rockin' Roller Coaster, ToT, Backlot Tour (where I created a new character of a snotty, oily Disney Executive that would but a spin on things, I was this character for most of the day and was cracking up my friends), Star Tours, Animation Station (drew a 1937 Goofy), Playhouse Disney (for the first time), and Fantasmic. 

We had lunch at the ABC Commasary, and Dinner at 50's Prime Time. 

It did start to rain some today, but it was off and on. There were alot of concern from guests and from Disney about TS Fay hitting the next day. We even got back to our resort to a message on our phone about the change in park hours (all parks were opening at 8am the next day, with extended hours at AMC Theatres and Disney Quest) and that Disney would monitor the weather and make decisions if needed.


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## I<3EvilQueen

Part 2 

TUES 19th 
Woke up to a very cloudy gray morning. We packed our ponchos and we were off to the Magic Kingdom. The bus was nearly empty, and when we got to the park we were shocked to see how dead the place was. The fear of TS Fay must have driven all the people stay in as it was fewer people than we usually see in Feb. 

Even with there being very few people there as I was wearing my Dis shirt as TS Fay messed up my wardrobe choices for the day.  I was stopped by a family of DISsers that were very much awake from all the sugar they had consumed at Chef Mickey's that morning.  They were nice but too much for me as I hadn't even had caffinee yet.  I can't remember their names as they were saying them way too quick for me to hear and remember.

Every thing was walk on. We were done with Adventureland, Frontierland, and Fantasyland (riding just about everything) and we were done with those lands before lunch. Peter Pan's Flight was still like 40 min, of course that ride is always long. But even Dumbo was walk on. 

The rides I experienced for the first time were: Dumbo, Magic Carpets, The Riverboat, and Barn Stormer. 

The Kingdom was prepared for a Tropical Storm as all the signs were roped down and tied off so they couldn't swing. 

We had lunch at the Columbia Harbor House (my first time). After lunch it finally started to drizzle and mist, and the park began to fill up some more. Finally about 5pm or so it started to finally be poncho weather and just continued to rain more throughout the evening. 

We had dinner at the Crystal Palace (my first time) and it was at this time that the winds and the rain really picked up (around 7pm). It was a nice dinner, very LOUD, but nice. I got pictures with Pooh, Tigger, and Eeorye, but was dissed by Piglet. He totally saw us and didn't stop, so I vowed revenge and tired to order pork for the rest of the trip in protest. 

To our amazement Wishes did go on. Althought it was changed up some. Tinkerbell didn't fly and the lower flying fireworks like the ones during the genie scene were not shot off either. 

So all in all it was still a rather full day at the Magic Kingdom, as we were back at the resort around 11pm.


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## I<3EvilQueen

PART 3

WED - Aug 20th

Rain all day again.  This was our Animal Kingdom day.  We wanted to make sure we rode every wheel and spoke ride at WDW so we rode Triceratop Spin for the first time.

We had lunch at the Yak and Yeti (counter service area).  Not a place to choose when it is raining as there are very few covered areas to sit.  We found a seclueded table across from the resturant. It was the "garden area" of Drinkwala near the river.  It had a table umbrella so it was nice.

I actually enjoyed Animal Kingdom in the rain, as the colors popped out and the animals loved it, so they were out more.  I even noticed more of the details in the walkways because they were wet, than I ever had before.

We had dinner at the Tusker House.  I think we were there the same day as Scopa (as his post was up the next day on it).  I wish I could give it the rave reviews that he did, but I thought it was just ok.  Boma is alot better and more choices.  The thing that I found the worst about Tusker House was the amount of plates that just weren't clean, it was alot.  I think that put me off a bit.  I am not talking about streaks from the dish washer, but food particles still on them.  I was completely grossed out when I reached for a bowl and underneath there was still a large amount of food on the bottom.   barf....

After the Animal Kingdom, I visited one of my favorite bartenders on property and chatted with him briefly. Then I came back to change into dry clothes, only to head back out into the rain to shop at DTD and head over to Pleasure Island.  We talk about going every trip but never seem to make it there, so we finally did.   I got to experience the Comedy Warehouse and the Adventure's Club for the first time.

I really enjoyed them both.  I wish we had stayed to see a second showing at the Comedy Warehouse as the one we saw didn't seem to be their best.  I used to do Improv so I know how it changes based on the showing.

I really enjoyed the Adventurer's Club.  I could see myself hanging out in there and being a regular. I loved the design of the place and the decor.  The shows were fun, if not packed.

And I was shocked to run into Rob (rpmdfw).  I was stunned that someone recognized me from my picture even though I was wet, unshaved, and had on glasses.  I am shy at first when I meet somebody so, I apologize now, if I came off short.. But I was just stunned that you recognized me.  But it was nice to chat with you.


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## rpmdfw

I<3EvilQueen said:


> PART 3
> I really enjoyed the Adventurer's Club.  I could see myself hanging out in there and being a regular. I loved the design of the place and the decor.  The shows were fun, if not packed.
> 
> And I was shocked to run into Rob (rpmdfw).  I was stunned that someone recognized me from my picture even though I was wet, unshaved, and had on glasses.  I am shy at first when I meet somebody so, I apologize now, if I came off short.. But I was just stunned that you recognized me.  But it was nice to chat with you.



No one should be shocked to run into me at the Adventurers Club!  I'm glad you enjoyed it.

You didn't come off as short.  I thought you were tired and tired of being rained on.  (and perhaps a bit scared of the wierdo who ran across the Main Salon to intrude on your vacation  )  It was nice chatting with you as well!


----------



## OrlandoMike

Why do I have the feeling Rob sits at the door of the AC with index cards with everyone's pics on them looking for newbees?


----------



## rpmdfw

OrlandoMike said:


> Why do I have the feeling Rob sits at the door of the AC with index cards with everyone's pics on them looking for newbees?



At the door?!?!?!?! 

Um, no.  You don't get to see any entertainment at the door.  Duh!

And index cards?!?!?!?!

Nope.  Just have a very good memory.  

And I'd read that Ken would be in town that week, so when I saw someone that looked EXACTLY like his pictures (but with glasses on) I went over and said hello.

I'm not a scary stalker person. 

I'm a scary friendly person.


----------



## mickeyfan1

OK, I will be in DTD on the 11th of September as it is check in day and we get in  just in time to go for dinner over there. I haven't been to the A/C, should I give it a try.  My sister and I both like comedy and since A/C is closing, I suppose I should go for it.  Yes? No?


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

rpmdfw said:


> I'm a scary friendly person.




Nah, not scary at all


----------



## OrlandoMike

rpmdfw said:


> I'm not a scary stalker person.



FYI  I think Wally likes the scary stalker type!    

And yes you should try the A/C before it closes!


----------



## rpmdfw

mickeyfan1 said:


> OK, I will be in DTD on the 11th of September as it is check in day and we get in  just in time to go for dinner over there. I haven't been to the A/C, should I give it a try.  My sister and I both like comedy and since A/C is closing, I suppose I should go for it.  Yes? No?



ABSOLUTELY!

I think it's the most "Disney" expereince at WDW.


----------



## wallyb

OrlandoMike said:


> FYI  I think Wally likes the scary stalker type!   :



*Dude - What is your Damage! Don't project.*

My predilections run more to rough neck blue collar workers -
 "oh my - What are you 3 plumbers doing here!"...



with your brothers....




And those 5 escaped convicts...





And the warden.








and 3 strapping surly guards.






*(anyone got a RedBull?)*


----------



## mickeyfan1

I have dibs on one of those guards.


----------



## wallyb

mickeyfan1 said:


> I have dibs on one of those guards.



Get off my cloud!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

wallyb said:


> *Dude - What is your Damage! Don't project.*
> 
> My predilections run more to rough neck blue collar workers -
> "oh my - What are you 3 plumbers doing here!"...
> 
> 
> 
> with your brothers....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And those 5 escaped convicts...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And the warden.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and 3 strapping surly guards.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *(anyone got a RedBull?)*



What no pics?


----------



## wallyb

I<3EvilQueen said:


> What no pics?



MIKE - buzz kill - won't let me!


----------



## OrlandoMike

wallyb said:


> MIKE - buzz kill - won't let me!



I'll be hitting the time clock soon......


----------



## wallyb

OrlandoMike said:


> I'll be hitting the time clock soon......



AKA - hitting the sauce.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

PART 4

Thursday 21st

Today was our half day at Epcot, focusing just on Future World.  It is a half day as we had the Spirit of Aloha set for that evening.   Of course TS Fay was sharing her love with us again today.  We did everything in Future World except Turtletalk and the Circle of Life show.    We had lunch at the Electric Umbrella.

There was an event during our Standby Queue at Soarin' that was "funny" that I had to share.  We kept getting this waft of something foul.  For the longest time I was afraid it was from my wet socks.  I was terrified that it was because everyone kept thinking it was me.  I was so embarrassed, but other kept saying it wasn't me.  When we got off the ride I rushed to the restroom to check and see with a "sniff test".  It wasn't me.  I suspected it was this woman in front of us that probably should have....well.....trying to put this nicely....washed her "lady purse"

We did learn later on in the day that our Spirit of Aloha show was cancelled due to the high winds.  This was really disappointing as I was looking forward to it.  Plus I already bought a pin to remember the event. (oh well).   So instead we went to DTD to do more shopping and had dinner at Earl of Sandwich.


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

PART 5

Friday- Aug 22

Today was our Epcot Tour day, and still more rain.  After some CM confusion about where we were to enter the park, we finally checked in and waited for our guide.  She (CM Nicole) was about 15 min late.  I thought it was cool that we were given headsets to hear her.  On the tour we learned/visited the following:

Rode Spaceship Earth
History of Epcot
Learned about the House of Tomorrow
5 Min Break
VIP Lounge of the Seas
20 min Break at the Land
VIP Back Doored onto Soarin'
3D Glasses Cleaning Dept at the Imagination Pavilion
Learned about the Fountain of Nations
Backstage at the Energy Pavilion to learn about AA's and saw the old hosts
Cast Member Building behind Test Track
VIP Back Doored onto Test Track
Given a Tour Pin

I enjoyed the tour but CM Nicole did seem a bit rushed, and I think we were shorted a bit on our time due to her being late and the fact that the "Illuminations Globe" was in refrib, but then I don't know how much Fay was causing changes to the tour.

After the tour we went to we lunch at the Sunshine Seasons. After lunch we saw the The Circle of Life (that we skipped the day before).  By time the show was done it was time to check in for our Behind the Seeds Tour.

Our guide was CM Fred.  He seemed a bit nervous and it was like you could see him reading from the script in his head.  We visited the greenhouses and got to feed the Hybrid Tilapia.  We learned some about the using of "good" bugs to feed on the "bad" ones.  We also got to see in depth the various ways to they use to grow the plants.

After the Seeds tour we headed to World Showcase and shopped in Canada (had to get my Maple Tea).  We also took a taste test for Twinings (in the UK). They were testing their cold brew tea.  We also shopped in Japan.  We saw the American Adventure before heading over to France for our dinner ADR.  We ate at Chefs de France.  The meal was great, a bit slow but the food was delish.

Illuminations went on, but it was pouring during it of course.  The Globe was out for rehab. so the show was a bit different and I believe a bit shorter too.

During EMH we rode:
O Canada
Grande Fiesta Tour
Maelstrom
Shopped in China
Spaceship Earth (we always end our Epcot days with this ride)

Saturday - 23rd

Today was our Kennedy Space Center Day.  Of course it was all sunny and hot.  Curse you Fay, figured you would stop when we were done with the Parks.

It was neat to see things at the center that I have always read about in History classes and seen on TV.  I was bummed by the fact that the Shuttle wasn't on the launch pad  yet (because of Fay).

We had lunch at the Center and the prices were more than Disney.

I got to see the mock up of the new space vehicle (after the shuttles are mothballed) and got to see people working on the next piece of the International Space station.

We rode there "thrill" ride that they are comparing to Mission Space.  It was rather cheesy.  Big deal build up but it was just an ok ride.  Not to thrilling.  Anyone can ride it (it isn't a spinner, just a shaker).

After KSC we ate at Ohana and then saw "Wishes" from the beach of the Poly.  We were over to far to hear the music from the pool area, but it was beautiful to see the fireworks from across the Lagoon, reflected in the water as the waves from the ferry were lapping on the shore.  It was nice and relaxing.


----------



## wallyb

IS THERE *NO* DEBAUCHERY IN THIS DANG TRIP REPORT?!?!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

wallyb said:


> IS THERE *NO* DEBAUCHERY IN THIS DANG TRIP REPORT?!?!



Sadly no.  I was a good boy during the trip.


----------



## wallyb

I<3EvilQueen said:


> Sadly no.  I was a good boy during the trip.



MAKE CRAP UP THEN!


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

wallyb said:


> MAKE CRAP UP THEN!



Nah.  You should just read my journal instead.


----------



## glenpreece

I just went through and read the various reports!! They're all great and make me even more anxious for my trip in 50 days!!! Maybe i can meet a Prince of my own ....


----------



## I<3EvilQueen

glenpreece said:


> I just went through and read the various reports!! They're all great and make me even more anxious for my trip in 50 days!!! Maybe i can meet a Prince of my own ....



  I hope so too, as long as it isn't Prince Phillip


----------



## MonorailMan

Oops! I forgot about this thread. I made a trip report post on the board already.


----------



## StormTigger

MonorailMan said:


> Oops! I forgot about this thread. I made a trip report post on the board already.



So where is this fabled trip report?  I have to admit after you almost didn't go I've been wondering how your trip went!  Hope you had a great time!


----------



## MonorailMan

StormTigger said:


> So where is this fabled trip report?  I have to admit after you almost didn't go I've been wondering how your trip went!  Hope you had a great time!



It's been awhile since I've been on this thread, and just noticed you posted this. To be honest, it wasn't much. I honestly don't even remember which thread I posted it on.


----------



## insoin

I know this is supposed to be trip reports, but I have  Pre-trip report started if anyone would be so interested in checking it out...  Or so bored they need to kill a few moments and have nothing else to do.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=31944484#post31944484

Scott


----------



## Sphyrna

insoin said:


> I know this is supposed to be trip reports, but I have  Pre-trip report started if anyone would be so interested in checking it out...  Or so bored they need to kill a few moments and have nothing else to do.
> 
> http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=31944484#post31944484
> 
> Scott



Great PTR so far Scott!  I loved the part about not saying your sister's age!


----------



## insoin

Sphyrna said:


> Great PTR so far Scott!  I loved the part about not saying your sister's age!



Thanks I have a lot more to post on there.  I will have more tomorrow that is for sure.


----------



## DLRP-Fan&CM

Hi everybody 
So me and my boyfriend and maybe one of our friend will be in California from September, 14th to the 27th.
It will be so good to meet some members (guys and girls)
For the first 3 days, we'll be in San Francisco. Then, we'll be back to Los Angeles and area (Las Vegas for September 20th & 21). 
We also booked for the Funhouse Tour of Pink (the 18th)
I hope to have some answers soon 
See U later


----------



## TuckandStuiesMom

Hi DLRP!


----------



## DisJase

Just got back literally 15 minutes ago 

Had a fantastic trip although I didn't get a feeling that it was gay days there at all (I was really hoping to see seas of red or do something.) Stayed at the Boardwalk for 7 days, the weather was pretty good (better than the chilly weather in the midwest.) I was with my brother and partner....was hoping I might recognise one of you forum goers, but I didn't. I didn't bring my laptop so I didn't get to see the activities. Anyway after I get rested I might put up a little trip report.


----------



## OrlandoMike

DisJase said:


> Had a fantastic trip although I didn't get a feeling that it was gay days there at all.



We're you at the MK today?  (Saturday)


----------



## DisJase

OrlandoMike said:


> We're you at the MK today?  (Saturday)



No, I wanted to but we didn't have time. Magic Express picked us up at 3:20 so we spent our last day at Downtown Disney / Pleasure Island...was there last night though. I'm sure I just missed everything by a hair...my luck!


----------



## OrlandoMike

The event (Week) has become so spread out the Saturday at the MK is really the only "event" that will consume you with a sea of red.


----------



## Will20

Just a heads up, I will be posting a Trip report soon fro my July 13-20, 2009 trip. 

Some highlights on the resort

Caribbean beach:  
Pirate Rooms, YES! excited to get one
Location, BOO!
Mouse Keeping, non-existant
along with dried food and trash under the matress's I will not be staying here again, it didnt ruin the trip, just put a damper on it. 

 I'll follow up with a full report later today


----------



## OrlandoMike

Feel free to start your own thread if you would like!


----------



## ConcKahuna

Will20 said:


> Pirate Rooms, YES! excited to get one
> Location, BOO!



That's why those rooms were the ones to get the rehab.  No one wanted them before that


----------



## buckylarue

I've posted my Pre-Trip Report for my birthday trip in December; youcan find it here. I *THINK* it's do-able, but what do y'all think? (Also, anybody gonna be there the same time?)


----------



## wdwprince

anyone going to be there 9/28-10/2?


----------



## ConcKahuna

wdwprince said:


> anyone going to be there 9/28-10/2?



I'm always there!  You should come in 2 days earlier though, a bunch of us will be enjoying the first weekend of Food & Wine the 26th and 27th.


----------



## dreweyj

This is my pre-trip report!  Okay, so I leave for the World for the 1st time ever in less than two weeks!  The occasion is the birthday of a very close friend who I'm romantically involved with.  We'll leave it at that!  We are staying at POR.  I have pre-ordered a cake during our 8 day stay which includes the free dining plan.  The cake will be delivered to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue in the middle of our stay.  But the best part is that for each night of our stay something magical will be delivered to the room while we are at the parks.  He has NO clue.  I will start packing at the 12 day mark to be consistent with some of the other DISers on the boards.  Sounds like a good plan and will help ensure I don't forget something.  A quick overview:

Day 1 - Arrive at 10 AM and get into the MK for early dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace at 3:30.  Then, at 7 PM have tickets to MVMCP.  I bought the dessert party for the Holiday Wishes.  During the day a 3 foot Mickey Stocking will be delivered to the room full of holiday goodies.

Day 2 - AK Park with dinner reservations at Boma.  A complete pirate themed chest of goodies including beer, snacks, and candy will be delivered that day.  He loves POTC!


Day 3 - HS Park with dinner at the Hoop Dee Doo Revue with pre-ordered birthday cake!  That day a personalized mickey ears hat and a candy bar cake with a plush mickey will be delivered.  Since he loves American Idol I bought the whole reserved seating package which comes with tee shirts, an American Idol trophy, and other memorabilia.  

Day 4 - EPCOT with dinner at San Angel Inn.  He loves Mexican...it's his favorite.  Minnie Mouse will be delivered with a gift basket of edibles.

Day 5 - Back to AK Park and dinner at OHANA.  Donald Duck will be delivered with custom Disney chocolates

Day 6 - Back to HS Park with dinner that evening at Fulton's Crab House.  That meal I can't wait for!  The delivery that day will be a complete in room celebration where Mickey and the gang leave presents and things all over the room.

Day 7 - Back to the MK!    Dinner is at the Liberty Tree Tavern, and the delivery is Goofy, Pluto, Chip, and Dale plushes, each gift wrapped.  

Day 8 - Half a day whereever he wants to go or if all else fails, back to Epcot to indulge in some adult beverages!


----------



## MomsOf2boys

dreweyj said:


> This is my pre-trip report!  Okay, so I leave for the World for the 1st time ever in less than two weeks!  The occasion is the birthday of a very close friend who I'm romantically involved with.  We'll leave it at that!  We are staying at POR.  !



Sounds like it is going to be a great trip!  He must be pretty special to get this type of birthday celebration!!  Have a wonderful time!


----------



## Bdawgsc

OK, so I've never published a trip report before. I've thought about it, started it, etc. It just never happened. So, I'll start with the pre-trip report.

Background: I _normally_ make it to WDW several times each year. I'm only a few hundred miles away, so it's very drivable. This year I went for Gay Days with the best friend against my better judgement.  It was fine, but not a real vacation and not my idea of a Disney trip.  I only took one day off work, didn't pay for much, etc, so I assured myself that I'd be back. And. then. it. happened. It's what I refer to as our very own Watergate Scandal. So, ever since July, it's been 60 hour weeks and a lot of stress. It's all calming down and tomorrow is the last of my busy days. Cue the cha cha music and watch fatty dance. Wednesday I'm getting the heck out of here.

So, here's the agenda. 

Wed - Leave Charleston about 9am. With stops for lunch, arrive in Orlando at the Off Property hotel around 3. (Don't judge, I travel for work so I use points.) Dinner with a friend at Giordanos in LBV and then a drink to relax and call it an early night.

Thursday - Blizzard Beach. I have a water park annual pass, so it makes sense to use it while I can.  Plus, I'll be alone and can relax, have a few drinks and get away from the craziness.  No plans, though maybe some putt putt at night.

Friday - Festival of the Masters at DTD. Maybe some more Blizzard Beach. Drinks/dinner in Orlando with friends who have moved to the area.  I could be persuaded, however, to go to MVMCP if anyone wants to go that will also be there.

Saturday - DAK/MK. 

Sunday - Studios/Epcot (Illuminations - HELLO! It's the perfect way to end the trip)

Monday - Last minute shopping and the drive home with a stop in JAX for my favorite BBQ.

So that's it. It's pretty low key for me, but sometimes that's necessary.  I'd probably stay longer, but i have to kennel the furry beasts, and I hate leaving them for that long.


----------



## jiminy.cricket

Bdawgsc said:


> OK, so I've never published a trip report before. I've thought about it, started it, etc. It just never happened. So, I'll start with the pre-trip report.
> 
> Background: I _normally_ make it to WDW several times each year. I'm only a few hundred miles away, so it's very drivable. This year I went for Gay Days with the best friend against my better judgement.  It was fine, but not a real vacation and not my idea of a Disney trip.  I only took one day off work, didn't pay for much, etc, so I assured myself that I'd be back. And. then. it. happened. It's what I refer to as our very own Watergate Scandal. So, ever since July, it's been 60 hour weeks and a lot of stress. It's all calming down and tomorrow is the last of my busy days. Cue the cha cha music and watch fatty dance. Wednesday I'm getting the heck out of here.
> 
> So, here's the agenda.
> 
> Wed - Leave Charleston about 9am. With stops for lunch, arrive in Orlando at the Off Property hotel around 3. (Don't judge, I travel for work so I use points.) Dinner with a friend at Giordanos in LBV and then a drink to relax and call it an early night.
> 
> Thursday - Blizzard Beach. I have a water park annual pass, so it makes sense to use it while I can.  Plus, I'll be alone and can relax, have a few drinks and get away from the craziness.  No plans, though maybe some putt putt at night.
> 
> Friday - Festival of the Masters at DTD. Maybe some more Blizzard Beach. Drinks/dinner in Orlando with friends who have moved to the area.  I could be persuaded, however, to go to MVMCP if anyone wants to go that will also be there.
> 
> Saturday - DAK/MK.
> 
> Sunday - Studios/Epcot (Illuminations - HELLO! It's the perfect way to end the trip)
> 
> Monday - Last minute shopping and the drive home with a stop in JAX for my favorite BBQ.
> 
> So that's it. It's pretty low key for me, but sometimes that's necessary.  I'd probably stay longer, but i have to kennel the furry beasts, and I hate leaving them for that long.



Sounds like a leisurely trip.  I didn't realize the water parks were open in November.  It's beginning to dip into the forties here.  Enjoy Giordano's; I love their pizza but we usually start with UNO.


----------



## insoin

I'm on Main Street USA right now waiting for Spectro to start in 2 mins


----------



## WittyreaderLI

HI all

I just got back from my 10th trip to Disney.  I went with my dear mother (who I haven't been to Disney with in over 10 years).  I went from Dec 7th to the 11th, and stayed at Carribbean Beach.  And contrary to popular beleif, that week is NOT a super dead time, it was fairly crowded.  HOWEVER! We had an awesome time.   There wasnt' anythin new, but had some amazing meals at Marrakesh and France, and my favorite ride of the trip was as always Splash Mountain. And the best and saddest part is that I miss it already!


----------



## TuckandStuiesMom

WittyreaderLI said:


> HI all
> 
> I just got back from my 10th trip to Disney.  I went with my dear mother (who I haven't been to Disney with in over 10 years).  I went from Dec 7th to the 11th, and stayed at Carribbean Beach.  And contrary to popular beleif, that week is NOT a super dead time, it was fairly crowded.  HOWEVER! We had an awesome time.   There wasnt' anythin new, but had some amazing meals at Marrakesh and France, and my favorite ride of the trip was as always Splash Mountain. And the best and saddest part is that I miss it already!



Hi WRLI! Nice to  meetcha! 
I was there the week after you, and I was surprised how busy it was too.


----------



## WittyreaderLI

TuckandStuiesMom said:


> Hi WRLI! Nice to  meetcha!
> I was there the week after you, and I was surprised how busy it was too.



I couldn't believe it myself. I knew there was a cheerleading tournament, but I didn't see any of them. Instead I saw the typical families and people from other countries. You'd think they'd keep their kids in school!


----------



## WittyreaderLI

Arrival (Day 1)

We arrived on Monday, December 7th around 1pm..  I went with my mom (DM) and myself, who is 29.   Upon arriving, we took the Magical Express to our hotel, Caribbean Beach.  We requested a room that was close to the eatery, because in previous trips, I stayed in Aruuba which was a hike to the main building.  This time we stayed in Martinique, which was hardly super close, but closer than Aruba.  We were famished, because by the time we got to the hotel, it was already 3:30pm.  We put our carry on bags in the room and immediately ran to the eatery.  We were on the free Disney Dining plan, which we loved, and my mom had a big roast beef Panini which she loved.  She chose a carrot cake as her dessert. I decided to eat Buffalo Chicken, which was an odd choice since I dont really like VERY hot food. It wasnt so great.  The sandwich was super spicy, and it was kind of small and not very filling.  I picked the chocolate cake for dessert and it was delicious.  After we ate, we took the bus to Downtown Disney.

Downtown Disney

Ive always loved making this the very first stop on my trip, its a tradition that Ive kept for the last three trips.   My favorite store is probably the Art of Disney, which I know they have in all of the parks, but for some reason, this one is my favorite.  I had anticipated buying the Splash Mountain Gallery of Light shadowbox and made a beeline for the shelf.   When I brought it to the register,  they rang it up as 94 dollars.  But the price tag said 65!  My mother, being the pushy woman that she can be, told them this, and they had to honor their mistake! Woohoo!  We wandered around going to the various shops, and eventually, we got bored and didnt know what to do. It was very early (around 6), and we had a very late lunch, but  I really didnt want to eat at the hotel for dinner, so we ended up sitting around under an umbrella while it rained and then ended up eating at Wolfgang Puck Express for dinner.  My mother had a salad, and she didnt care for it that much.  I ordered the three cheese macaroni and cheese and it was really good. It came with a small Caesar salad, and for dessert, we both had brownies, although my mother saved hers for breakfast the next day.  We went back to the room, pretty tired and excited for the parks the next day.

Day 2: EPCOT

It was Extra Magic Hours that day, so we got to EPCOT at 8am (Im one of those people who likes to get there when the parks first open).  Spaceship Earth was CLOSED!  We were annoyed by that (it later reopened but still, thats usually the first ride), so we made a beeline for Soarin only to discover that there was already an hour wait.  We got a Fastpass and decided to ride Listen to the Land, which I enjoy a lot, even though its not the most exciting ride.  After we finished that, we went on Test Track, which is always a lot of fun.   We went back to the Land pavilion and rode Soarin, which I always found to be overrated.  I rode Soarin in California Adventure back when it first opened, and to me, its fun but its hardly in my top 10.   Afterwards, I convinced my mother to avoid Ellens Energy Adventure  which was very crowded, and I wasnt in the mood for.  We breezed through Innoventions, having been disappointed that the House of the Future seemed to be closed.  We spent a few minutes playing Up: the Video game, but it was kind of boring.  Afterwards, we went back to Spaceship Earth, which is probably one of my favorite rides in all of Disney.  It reminds me so much of the old Horizons and World of Motion which filled my childhood with fond memories.   

We went on the disappointing as always Journey into Your Imagination (With Figment).   I really miss the old ride!!!   We skipped over Mission Space because my mother had a bad experience before they opened the two versions.  I went on it for the first time in Jan of 2009 and wasnt terribly impressed with the tame version.  And Im not a big fan of motion simulators. We arrived for our ADR at Marrakesh where we both ordered the Sultans Platter.  I found the food to be probably the best meal of the trip.  We both had chicken, and it came with a chicken bastilla, which is a sweet pastry filled with minced chicken and cinnamon.  It sounds gross but its really not!   And it came with a chicken kabob.  For dessert, we had more bastilla, this time with vanilla ice cream melted on top.  It was really a very filling and scrumptious meal.  After we ate, we made the tour of the countries, fully exploring Morocco.  

We also saw the American Adventure movie, which I hadnt seen in about 15 years. It wasnt a bad show by any means.   The next several hours were spent completing the worldshowcase going counterclockwise.  We rode Maelstrom which is SO short but fun, and did El Rio Del Tiempo.  By the time we made it to Canada, It was time for our ADR at France.  We ate downstairs and had a semi decent meal.  We both ordered the three course meal, having Lobster Bisque, which was so good!  I had a chicken dish and my mother had the salmon.  The chicken was tasty, but I had a couple of bones appear in my mouth which was kind of gross.  When I cook at home, I dont like to cook with meat on the bone.   My mother said her salmon was okay.  For dessert, my mother had a bunch of pastries filled with ice cream, and I had a chocolate mousse cake, which wasnt as good as I thought.  We stopped at the bakery in France to use some of our snack credits to get some chocolate croissants for breakfast.  On the way out, we stopped at England and Canada and then exited the park before closing, around 8pm. A 12 hour day!    I did not care to stay for Illuminations, Im not a huge fan of the crowds after the fireworks.


Day 3: Magic Kingdom

We woke up pretty early and ate our Chocolate Croissants, which werent as good as expected!  The first ride I HAD to go on was Splash Mountain, which is probably my favorite in all parks.  My mother doesnt like huge drops so she waited this one out.  Afterwards, we went on Thunder Mountain, which is a tradition as well.  From there, we went on Pirates, and then trekked over to Tomorrowland. I got a Fastpass for the NEW Space Mountain, which had a pretty long wait.  Afterwards, we went on the TTA, saw Carousel of Progress (another personal favorite), and then I ended up going on Space Mountain sans Fastpass (Which is still in my wallet as a keepsake). My mother didnt want to go on, so she went to Laugh Factory alone (the last time I was there, I got picked on so I didnt want to do it this time).  Then we went on Buzz Lightyear together (I beat my mom). 

 From there, it was around lunchtime, so I decided to treat my mom to Liberty Tree, which was SEVERELY disappointing. I went to Liberty Tree a LOT in my youth and I really have very fond memories, so I thought it would be fun to go back there. My mom had a burger, and I ordered the turkey, which is what I had ordered when I was younger.  It was like high school cafeteria food, the stuffing was mushy, and the potatoes were bland.  We didnt have dessert.  After lunch, we did the MK staples: Haunted Mansion and Hall of Presidents.  My mother got pissed at the people who were sitting behind us, they were speaking very loudly in Spanish and we couldnt hear the dialogue. It was quite rude! We ventured over to Fantasyland which was quite crowded. We went on Snow White, which never has a long wait, and Fast passed Pooh.  Then we saw Mickeys Phillharmagic, which was new to my mom.  She thought it was amazing!   Then we went on Small World and then on Pooh.  Peter Pan had a very long line, and I am not a fan of the teacups or the Carousel.   Afterwards, we wondered what we had missed and decided to go back to the hotel for dinner.  I ordered grilled salmon with mac and cheese and cornbread. It  was really good! My mom had chicken.  And for dessert, we had giant cupcakes. It was nice out that night so we ate outside.


Day 4:  Hollywood Studios

We got to Hollywood Studios a little after opening.   In past years, I made a beeline for Twilight Zone.  Every time I go there though, I get very nervous, and while I do think I enjoy the ride, I just get myself very stressed about it.  So this time, I decided to skip it, and my mom agreed.  We also didnt go on Rock n Roller Coaster (I never have).    So the first ride we went to was Toy Story, which had a long wait already.  We Fast Passed it, which I was glad about because later in the day, they were completely out.  The first thing we did was see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which is a sweet and beautiful show. I love the effects even though the rain was icky (it was raining).  We ran to the Great Movie ride, which needs updating in the worst way, but still is a Must See.  Then we went to our ADR at Sci Fi, which has so so food but so fun atmosphere.  We got to have delicious Milkshakes as part of our Dining Plan! I had a chicken sandwich and my mom had the Shrimp Pasta. For dessert, I had the chocolate Peanut butter cake.    
After lunch, we rode Toy Story, which is such a fun and interesting ride, but so short.  If it was like Buzz, Id ride it multiple times, but sadly it is super popular.  We saw the new American Idol show, which my mother enjoyed much more than I did.  I thought the singalong part was extremely cheesy!  We did the also must see, MuppetVision 3D.  Then we rode the very dull Backlot Tour, and saw some of the Animation galleries.  By this time it was dark out and we went to our ADR for dinner which was at Hollywood and Vine, which I always enjoy.   The best thing of the day, especially for my mother was the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights. Its just simply amazing and I would highly recommend you go to see it at least once.  By the time the day was over, and we had to wait a long time for the bus,  I was cranky.

Day 5:
Animal Kingdom

This was our last day, and we arrived extra early at AK, before  opening. I made a beeline for Expedition Everest, and my mother sat that one out. It seemed more intense than normal. Its not my favorite ride by any means, but for some reason, I do enjoy it.  After exploring Asia, we went to Africa and Fastpassed the Safari.  We went through one of the animal trails at a very quick pace, and then rode the Safari, which had very few animals.  Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park, for the record.  We really didnt do a heck of a lot there.  We saw Its Tough to be a Bug, which I dont like much either.  It was too cold for the rapids, and I didnt really care to go on Dinosaur.  By the time our lunch rolled around, at Tusker House, I was ready to go back home.   Tusker House was delicious and reminded me of Boma, which I went to the last time!   We left, we back to the hotel, then flew back to Long Island.  And despite some of my grumblings, I had an  awesome time and miss it already!!


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## berryinDC

Posted my trip report, but I don't have permission to use links yet. it's called absolutely fabulous disneymoon @ POR on the trip reports board. You'll just have to engage your mouse a bit to find it I suppose.  We had a really really great honeymoon. The CMs were great and really made our trip. 

We even saw a few other lesbian couples. Yea! It was like our own mini gay day.


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## Sphyrna

berryinDC said:


> You'll just have to engage your mouse a bit to find it I suppose.



Sounds kinky!! 

Glad you had a great Disneymoon!!


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## chwgmjay

berryinDC said:


> Posted my trip report, but I don't have permission to use links yet. it's called absolutely fabulous disneymoon @ POR on the trip reports board. You'll just have to engage your mouse a bit to find it I suppose.  We had a really really great honeymoon. The CMs were great and really made our trip.
> 
> We even saw a few other lesbian couples. Yea! It was like our own mini gay day.



http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2452875


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## Corbisblue

Got the first day of my trip report up! I have the thread made -> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2468563

I'll be updating it every few days with new posts!


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## Corbisblue

Updated the Trip Report with Day 2! More photos and videos for you to enjoy. Hope you guys are enjoying reading them as much as I am writing it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2468563


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## Sassagoula Billy

Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm currently doing a TR over on the Trip Reports board that you may want to check out.  My boyfriend and I were at Disney in mid-June, and also took a day out to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2499814


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## I<3EvilQueen

Sassagoula Billy said:


> Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm currently doing a TR over on the Trip Reports board that you may want to check out.  My boyfriend and I were at Disney in mid-June, and also took a day out to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
> 
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2499814


Thanks for the heads up, and yes next time take pictures  *wink


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## Sassagoula Billy

I<3EvilQueen said:


> Thanks for the heads up, and yes next time take pictures  *wink



Oh, there are pictures in the later installments.  But yes, more pictures next time!


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## Sphyrna

Sassagoula Billy said:


> Just wanted to let y'all know that I'm currently doing a TR over on the Trip Reports board that you may want to check out.  My boyfriend and I were at Disney in mid-June, and also took a day out to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
> 
> http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2499814



Now that was one of the most entertaining TR's I ever read!!  Not that I read that many.  They're like books...if they're that good they'll make a movie out of it.   It kept me entertained from breakfast through "lunch".  I put lunch in quotes because I ended up having the same thing I did for breakfast (corn pops with chocolate milk).  I guess what made it lunch was I had 2 bowls instead of 1.   I didn't mind the lack of pictures.  You're writing and descriptions more than made up for it!


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## Sassagoula Billy

Sphyrna said:


> Now that was one of the most entertaining TR's I ever read!!  Not that I read that many.  They're like books...if they're that good they'll make a movie out of it.   It kept me entertained from breakfast through "lunch".  I put lunch in quotes because I ended up having the same thing I did for breakfast (corn pops with chocolate milk).  I guess what made it lunch was I had 2 bowls instead of 1.   I didn't mind the lack of pictures.  You're writing and descriptions more than made up for it!



Thanks for reading .  Better get a few more boxes of corn pops because there's more to come!  Since I started it out as a dining report, I have to go back and fill in all the missing details from the first few days.  Lord knows how long this'll take...


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## Sassagoula Billy

Pre-Trip Report now in the works for my January 2011 trip.  Go and check it out!

The Grand Lady on the Lake PTR


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## RAPstar

Started my PTR for my trip next month. Link in siggy.


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## jeffmilw

All this food talk is making me hungry.

I like the picture of the orange... pretty interesting how they get the oranges to grow like Mickey's ears.


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## Schotz

Any new trip reports?  I am worried much of WDW will be under construction this year for gaydays.


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## OrlandoMike

Schotz said:


> Any new trip reports?  I am worried much of WDW will be under construction this year for gaydays.



Other than a wall in Fantasyland, what else are you worried about?


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## Schotz

The candy shop on Main Street, the bridge to adventure land and the enchanted tiki room.


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## jackskellingtonsgirl

nyc2theworld and I both have pre-trips in progress on the "Pre Trip" forum.


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## DrGaellon

jackskellingtonsgirl said:


> nyc2theworld and I both have pre-trips in progress on the "Pre Trip" forum.



Me too. Link in .sig


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## Schotz

Posting live and recorded video on upstream.tv.  Username is schotzmcbodka. I hope Internet will stay online for me.


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## Schotz

Dole whip was 15 minute wait  lines in the park were not too bad large crowds. The parade was good I will post the video later on ustream. On my way to mizners lounge in GF. See y'all at wishes


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## Schotz

Had a great time at gaydays with yall, even thou I was by myself the whole time, it was a pleasure to see such a great bunch of truly colorful people at WDW.  Nothing negative to say about anyone in the park, just that WDW lost a lot of color when we all left on Sunday night.

I was planning on posting some great video feeds and even some live from the park but the internet was so terrible in orlando that I could only send text and email.

I posted what I could on flickr look for schotzmcbodka or someone like that to see them.  I had hoped of posting a lot more but more than half of it was lost in packets somewhere.  I also wrote up another quick trip report post tonight under GayDays 2011.

see you soon!


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## Sphyrna

What a great trip!!  I definitely need a vacation from my vacation!!

I got in Saturday afternoon and just had dinner and hung out with some of my local friend's friends.  Nice time.

Sunday my local friend drove me around showing me different areas that would be good to buy a house in, since I want to relocate to Orlando.  Then we did Universal Studios.  It was fun but definitely doesn't compare to Disney.

Monday we did Islands of Adventure.  I was happy to visit WWoHP but it was just "eh".  I knew from the boards and podcasts that it's a small area and they were right.  I was shocked that the wait for Forbidden Journey was only 20 min!  I was afraid being Memorial Day it would have been packed.

Tuesday I packed up my stuff and checked out of my friend's place.  We drove over to DHS and did Star Tours a couple times.  We had lunch at Mama Melrose's and it was really good!  We also did ToT and RRC.  My friend dropped me off at the Swan to check in then I met him over at Epcot for dinner.  We had a wonderful dinner at Les Chefs de France, as usual.  Our waiter wasn't that cute but at least it was a waiter!  So we're making progress!!  Still plenty of eye candy to be had!  We watched Illuminations through the windows as we dined.

Wednesday was the Backstage Magic tour.  I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure it's worth the price.  I think the Keys to the Kingdom tour was a better value, although that was only 1 park.  Disney showed their great customer service when it started to rain and one of the guides came around giving us all ponchos to wear and keep.  Lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe was good.  The fruit cobbler dessert was delicious!!  Wednesday night we had dinner at Le Cellier.  Probably the best dinner I've had on property!

Thursday was DAK.  I saw the Nemo show, which is my favorite thing there!  Always get a tear in my eye watching it.  Had a great time at the Dawa Bar meet!!  Good friends, good drinks, and good laughs!!  I grabbed a slice of pizza on the Boardwalk before attending a vow renwal ceremony.  Then we went into Epcot for a bit and watched Illuminations.

Friday was back to DHS.  I got there about 8:30 and was surprised to see it was open already.  I expected to go through the turnstiles then wait at the rope.  The times guides I saw showed it opening at 9:00 but it was wide open when I got there so I headed to Jabba's Hut for some SWW shopping.  I got the AP lanyard.  I was disappointed to find out most of the AP merchandise I wanted was sold out already.  I kinda think they should reserve some merchandise for each SWW.  But at the same time it wouldn't be fair to those attending earlier weekends to not get something b/c that weekend's allotment was sold out yet someone going 2 weeks later can get stuff.  But I still manage to get a few pins and the logo magnet I get every time I go.  Had lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-in, which was good.  Just had a fun day going on rides and enjoying SWW.  Didn't do TSM as the wait was always too long.  Had dinner at Boma then met up at Victoria Falls for drinks.

Saturday was the big day!  Started with breakfast at Crystal Palace which was really nice as I hadn't been there in years.  Spent the morning going around with one group.  Around 2 we broke off and joined another group and got ready for the parade.  After the parade moved past we started walking behind it.  That's always a highlight, getting the groups of red shirts to join us.  Didn't seem as many or as enthusiastic as a couple years ago.  But it's still great to see everyone on the sides cheering then joining us.  After the parade I was ready for a cool dole whip float!  Had a good time at the dole whip meet.  Was excited I got to meet Kathy Werling from the podcast team!  Saturday night we met for drinks at Top of the World @ BLT then went on the Wishes cruise.  I think that was the highlight of this trip!  Going to WDW so many times I try to find new and different things to do, like the tours.   And since I love Wishes this was for me!  I just hope I didn't annoy everyone on the boat by singing along and speaking the dialogue.

Sunday was Epcot.  Got there a little early and did Soarin since it was only a 35 min standby wait.  Then we strolled along eventually working our way to Mexico at high noon for DATW.  Had a great time doing DATW with everyone!!  Lunch at Biergarten was fun.  But poor Maksim.  He was completely overwhelmed by our group.  It took 45 minutes to get all the checks sorted out and paid.  We continued on with DATW and got some great group pics at the fountain in Morocco.  We ended in Canada with a performance by Off Kilter.  Great way to end DATW!  But then it was sad as we said our good byes.  I went off to do Journey into Imagination but it closed at 7   So we did Spaceship Earth.  I stopped off at Mousegears for some shopping then back to the resort to rest and pack up.  As far as attractions, Epcot was the only real disappointment as I only did Soarin and Spaceship Earth.  I should have stayed after dinner the one night for EMH.  But Gay Days is more about having fun with my friends than going on rides and attractions.  So there was no disappointment there!

I was surprised by how non-stop the trip was, especially starting Tuesday.  I'd be at the park in the morning.  Stop at the resort for a shower and wardrobe change in the evening.  Then rush off for evening activities.  Come back to the room and go to bed.  Go go gadget!  The Swan was nice, although I didn't have much time to explore and enjoy the resort.  I couldn't get my iPad to connect to the WiFi so that was a bummer.  Didn't really have time to call their tech support since I normally only had an hour or 2 in the resort.  It was really great to see my friends and meet new ones.  Hopefully next year will meet even more!!

Today was my day off at home to relax and decompress.  Was nice to sleep past 10   Now I need to start working on details for my October DL trip and figure out when my next trip to WDW will be!!


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## Schotz

There was a problem with the Internet at Orlando. Not sure why it was a first time I had a problem. Glad to see you had a great time with your friends and everyone


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## silverhaze269

Recently got back, and have a TR in the works...I was there for the first 2 days of Gay Days, but unfortunately didn't get to do any meets (had planned on it though). You can find the link to it in my siggy


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## wdw_nutz

Hi all!  

Just a question - I started a pre-trip report over on the main board for it and next to nobody has replied!    Now, I'm not an amazing writer, or a spoiled brat demanding attention, it's just that... from what I can see my pre-trip report is the same as everyone elses, photos, plans, ADRs, excitement.  But one fundamental difference - there are hundreds or thousands of comments on theirs!

I can't help but wonder, is it the gay thing??  I say in the very first post that Hayley is my partner, is that putting people off reading and writing?  It would make me sad to think that is the reason, but I'm feeling kinda lonely over on my pre-trippie and I thought it would be a good way to get people of like-mind to hear my plans so I didn't bore those around me IRL!  

So I just wondered if anyone else has written a pre-trippie mentioning their SO and been pretty much ignored....  Thanks for your thoughts on this!  

Love (a slightly paranoid and lonely) Dee xxx


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## DisneyDork1969

I have a little blog where I post all my reports, pics and videos of my various trips...I just did a review of La Hacienda de San Angel and I posted some pics of the restaurant. Here is the link to my blog. Stop by for a read!

http://disneydork69.blogspot.com/

John


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## DrGaellon

David and I are leaving tomorrow for San Diego; we will be in Anaheim at DLR/DCA Tuesday and Wednesday. PTR is at http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=44066129.


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## OKW Lover

Hope you have a great trip.  

Wanted to add a suggestion if the two of you are foodies.  Chef's Counter at Napa Rose!!!!  Val & I did this on Tuesday and it was an outstanding experience.


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## scottny

Noticed was answering from a year ago. LOL

DELETED


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## NurseAllen

Well, I can honestly say that my most recent trip was probably my least favorite of ever going. I think there were simply too many people in our group! I actually had two cast members be rude to me for the first time in forever. One on Space Mountain and the other was a security guard,...which I kind of understand. But the one on Space Mountain I don't understand! It was near park closing time and the cast member at the front just let us go in either line. Once we got to the top (and y'all know how hot it gets in there...) the guy was like, ''Fast pass.''...I was like, ''Huh?'' ''Fast pass.'' ''I don't have a fast pass, the lady at the front let us just come in.'' ''Yeah, if you don't have a fast pass, you're not getting on.'' ''Do I have to go all the way back down and come back up, or will you let us go to the other line?'' (There was NO one else in the other line we could cut in front of, btw.) ''Go all the way back down.'' So, we went halfway, then went through the gate, and came back up. When we got up there, they were directing EVERYONE into either line. I WAS SO MAD. I swear I wish I would've got his name! >.<


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## RAPstar

Not a full TR (link in my signature if interested), but here's video of my performance in the American Idol Experience while I was down there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz3jL-XsRxM


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