Gwen's Trip Jan. '10

[gwennie81]

I do not have the energy to do a full TR right now but, I'm back home with the parents now. I honestly do not know how people can do a full week at Disney. We barely survived 3 days. HA! Maybe it was just us...Oh well, I will try to maybe post tomorrow night. I think I discovered a few new tricks and tips so, I will definitely share! More on this thread later. Stay tuned!! :yes:

[Tink]

Looking forward to it! :yes:

I remember when we took Max who was six at the time, for a week (in JULY! :eek: ) to WDW. I thought I was going to die before we got done! :lol:

Having done more than a week at a time, I can say the trick is to break up the park time with other activities like leisurely dinners, etc. If you go, go, go, all the time you will wear yourself out fast!

Hope you had a good time!

[daveann]

lookng forward to reading it :)

[gwennie81]

The parents are on the plane back to Kansas so now I have a chance to do a TR.

We had record cold weather all last weekend so it wasn't comfortable at the parks AT ALL. To make matters worse, it was the weekend of the Marathon so the roads were blocked off around the property in the most inconvenient places. Also, the entire continent of South America was there (more on all these issues later).

We left my house around 7am-ish and headed over to Disney. We had some minor setbacks getting going such as mom not bringing any appropriate footwear and needing to stop for coffee and the paper. I do not know why she didn't have any normal sneakers. She had these mesh sneaker/slide-ons that were not warm at all. And I am not kidding when I say it was below freezing outside.

When we got to Disney, I forgot to look up what exit we needed for Port Orleans, I just remembered it was in the Downtown Disney area. However, like I mentioned earlier, the marathoners were out and about and World Drive was completely shut down as well as several other major thouroughfares around the property so, we finally made it to PO Riverside with some inconvenience.

I had done the On-Line Check-In so in theory, it should've been a cinch to get a key and go get on a bus but, for some reason there were several people in the On-Line queue and NO ONE in the regular check-in queue. However, the regular check-in staffers couldn't take any on-line check-in people :rolleyes2:. Finally we made it to the front of the line and my mom says, why don't we stay another night? The original plan was to go to Epcot, stay one night, and then go to Animal Kingdom. So, the Check-In lady says we can have the room at the same rate for another night and my mom said, We'll take it! It wasn't until we booked it that we realized we had only packed (obviously) clothes for one night. Fortunately I have a tendency to over-pack anyway so I was good except I only had one pair of socks (kind of gross to wear socks two days in a row). I also neglected to throw my toothbrush in my bag so I had to buy one in the gift shop.

We pulled the car around to Parterre Place (the building we stayed in). I had requested to be close to a bus stop but I think they put us in the furthest one away. Whatever. We walked over to the Magnolia Bend bus stop and waited. And waited. And waited. 40 chilly minutes later we FINALLY got a bus to Epcot. Little did we know, the end of the marathon went through Epcot and the finish line was just outside the entrance. Mom & dad had purchased tickets at POR so we just needed to make it through security (only 2 guys checking bags) and the turnstiles (only 4 lines open). I think they had taken a bunch of cast members off of their normal jobs and had them doing crowd control for the marathon.

The first thing we did was Spaceship Earth. I love how Dame Judi Dench is the narrator now. And the little interactive choose your own future cartoon at the end. There is a hidden Mickey I just noticed in there. It is in the Renaissance-era. On the painter's table on the lefthand side there is a Mickey made out of white circles of paint from the bottom of a paint can. Next we hauled butt over to Soarin'. That's my mom's favorite. She likes the part when you go over the orange groves. Then we did Living With The Land. I finally got a picture of the hidden Mickey in the shrimp tank.
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Mom suggested at this point that we eat but I wasn't hungry and I don't know why but I didn't want to eat in the cafeteria. I just knew that we were running ~1.5 hours behind my normal pace and I was really frustrated. The only thing that saved my sanity was that despite the marathoners, the park really wasn't all that busy. We were pretty much just walking up to the front of every line. The longest we had to wait was, of course, for Soarin' (20 minutes...at the most). The rest of them, we just walked on.

We went in the Living Seas next. I didn't want to do the Nemo ride so we just went in and looked at the manatees (Kringle and Lou are still there) and the aquariums. The dolphin trainer was walking around with a whistle and getting one of the dolphins to do tricks in the water in front of us. I also got a picture of the Mickey made out of rocks at the bottom of one of the tanks.
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We were pretty much done with Futureworld at this point so we went on to the countries. The Christmas decorations were all still out which was fun. Mexico was a pain to try and get through. At this point the marathoners had thinned out and all that was left was the injured and the stragglers. The San Angel Inn was all boarded off for refurbishment and the crossing point for regular pedestrians was at that point so we had to wait for the "all clear" before we could cross in front of the runners. We went into the Mexico pavilion and rode the boat ride and browed the gift shops. I was tempted to go into the tequila bar but, decided against it because I wouldn't have been able to pull my dad out of there.

Next was Norway and the Maelstrom. We stayed and watched the film since mom & dad had never seen it. Of course half of the people in there got up and left before it was over (people leaving during shows would continue to be a source of frustration for my mom). Also, every gift shop we went into my mom was trying to find a better pair of shoes to wear. I think her feet must've been iceblocks by this point.

Next China and my favorite film, Reflections of China. Mulan was standing in the lobby and I felt bad because no one was wanting their picture with her. Maybe it's time for a rerelease of that movie to reacclaimate people? We breezed through Africa and went on to Germany. I was very glad to get my glass of warm red wine (they also have white now, too!) When I stepped outside, though, the wine immediately cooled off (BOOOOO!) We skipped Italy (dad can't handle the smell of perfume) and went straight to America.

We got into the American Pavilion right as the accapella group was doing their last few songs. Mom and dad were very impressed by them. We went into the theater to watch the show. ("Americaaaaaa spread your golden wiiiings...") I have to say that it is a good thing most of Epcot is indoors. I can't emphasize how cold it was. Our saving grace was being able to be in a building for 20 or so minutes at a time to thaw!
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We went in Japan and noticed that some of the marathoners that had finished earlier were now hanging out in the park. There were several drunk runners in by the sake bar. If you've ever noticed a large brown nest-like ball hanging over the sake bar and wondered what it was, the cashier explained the sigificance to us. In the sake houses in Japan, they hang a green ball of cedar from the ceiling. When it turns brown, it means it is a good time to drink sake!

We blew past Morocco and went straight on to France. My mom has been doing Weight Watchers and has lost ~60 pounds over the past year so she was mega-mad when I went into the bakery and got a croissant. Sorry, mom! It's a tradition! So she pulled out her 3rd granola bar of the day and complained that I was going to ruin my dinner and she wanted to eat a big dinner and I had to give half of my croissant to my dad. We watched Impressions of France and upon leaving the France pavilion, Marie from the Aristocats was out front. I wanted my picture with the cute kitty but there was kind of a line.

We went through the U.K. and then to Canada to watch O, Canada! with Martin Short. My dad liked that one. We went back to the U.K. to watch the British Invasion (I don't think my mom could feel her feet at this point). After that, I went up to the Rose & Crown reservation desk and asked if they had a table for 3. The kid gave me a buzzer and said it would be ~20 minutes. I joined mom & dad in the bar. They were trying to get up to the bar but it was completely packed in there. Literally 2 minutes (not 20) the buzzer went off and we were seated.
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Let me say, we had THE BEST dinner. I got the Chicken & Mushroom pot pie. It had chicken, mushrooms, peas, and mashed potatoes covered by some delicious and buttery puff pastry with a Strongbow. Dad got the Bangers and Mash and a Boddington's. Mom got the scotch egg, a small side salad (which was actually kind of big!) and a Stella Artois. Everything was so delicious and the waitress was so nice (she was from a town near Belfast). We were seated outside but they had vinyl curtains pulled down and the heat lamps on full blast.

After supper I wanted to stay and see Off-Kilter but they had just finished playing right before we got there and mom was a popsicle at that point so we headed back to the bus. We stopped and rode Spaceship Earth one more time before we left! We only had to wait a little bit (maybe 10 minutes) for a bus. Luckily when we got back to Parterre, we had parked pretty much right in front of the room so we got in quickly. Mom immediately jumped into bed. I was glad we left when we did because it took ~2 hours for feeling to come back into my butt. We had a good sleep!
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Day 2 coming up next...

[Tinker]

Great Report ! Thanks for sharing . Hope you all warmed up quickly . I could not imagine being at WDW in a winter coat .

[Tinker]

WoW, gwen, just noticed you are in jeans . Brrrr ! Don't they feel colder than other pants when its cold ? Mine always feel like they are froze to me . I, sometimes, think they will break in two , right down the middle when I'm cold taking them off . :lol:

[Tinker]

Sorry, forgot that quick, LoVe the Hidden Mickeys . Never saw those . Will give me something to find on my next trip . Thanks Again

[gwennie81]

Day 2...
Let me start off by expressing my disappointment in the room. We were placed at Parterre Place. The tub was really crummy and needed to be replaced. Housekeeping didn't leave us any shampoo or regular coffee. Also, there wasn't a pen and pad of paper or a trashcan in the toilet room which I thought was weird. I called housekeeping and told them we didn't need the shampoo and coffee that night but please make sure to leave some the next day. When we got back from MK that night, they had made up the room but STILL forgot to leave the requested items. I called and a lady ran down a bunch of shampoos, soaps, and regular coffee packs. HA!

Monday was Magic Kingdom day. It was about 20 degrees warmer than the day before but it was still chilly. When we got to the park and walked through the tunnel under the train station, we heard some lady holler, "Who wants to meet Snow White?" and then saw a small line of people walk into the Expo Hall on the right. My mom looked at me and said, "I want to meet Snow White!" so, we followed them in. SW was very nice and beautiful and sounded exactly like her! I thought my mom was going to wet her pants. HA! After we met SW, we went into another room and there was Pinnochio and Peter Pan. I didn't want my pic with either of them but I looked around the corner into another room and saw Alice and the White Rabbit and no one else was in there so I got to meet them! Very cool. Definitely go into that building if you want pics and autographs!!
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Next we walked down Main Street. The Christmas decorations were still up at this park also. The windows in the shop on the NW corner had scenes from Mickey's Christmas Carol in them. Very cute!
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We decided to start in Tomorrowland. Dad and I went on Space Mountain. The new games in the queue help make the line go a little bit faster, I thought. Then we all did the TTA and Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor and then went over to Toontown Fair.

We kind of wandered around Toontown and I noticed hardly anyone in line to go through Mickey's house and then to meet Mickey (the line for Minnie's house was huge). So, we got in line and ~15 minutes later got to meet Mickey AND Minnie!! YAY! We got on the train in Toontown and rode it around the park. After we got off, we went over to Fantasyland.

We pretty much just walked into Philharmagic (my fave!) and It's A Small World, but all the other rides over there were busy. We decided to have lunch at the Columbia House. I got the fish n' chips, dad got the hummus & veg sandwich and mom got the kid's mixed greens w/ grilled chicken. Very yummy!

Next we did the Haunted Mansion. It was at this point we were REALLY getting frustrated with the Brazilians or Costa Ricans or wherever they were from. They were all REALLY rude, no matter the age, and two of them would get in line in front of us (not a big deal) but then all of a sudden 20 more of them would butt in line. So rude. Anyway, after the HM we went on the Riverboat because no one else was on it. My dad was fascinated with the hydraulics of the paddlewheel. Mom & dad have been on a couple REAL riverboat cruises with friends and mom said after dinner dad and Bob would go sit on the back deck and just watch the paddlewheel. After we got off the boat, we went over in front of the Hall of Presidents to watch the afternoon parade.

I don't know when they swtiched the direction of the parade but now it starts at Main Street and works it's way around to Frontierland. The pre-parade features a family that volunteered and there's a song about volunteering and then Miss Piggy and Kermit follow behind in another car and a big monster in a hardhat greets people.

The main parade theme is Celebrate and the characters wear party hats and the dancers look "futuristic-y". It got warm enough while we were standing there that I got to take off my coat! We were standing by a really nice family and all the characters were coming up and greeting the kids. After the parade mom and I told the mom about Tinkerbell flying over the crowd before the fireworks so, I hope they got to see her!

After the parade we went up and did Adventureland. I love the Tiki Room and am always the first to stand up for "Get On Your Feet" at the end. Then we did the Jungle Cruise. It was starting to get chilly again at this point since the sun was beginning to go behind the trees. Pirates of the Caribbean was next. At first mom wanted to do Thunder Railroad but then decided not, so we went to see the Bear Jamboree. The sound in there is really crummy. That's an attraction that I think could use a little updating!

We walked back around through Fantasyland and Tomorrowland because I forgot to do the Carousel of Progress. I think dad really liked that one. I like the song! (There's a great big bee-yoo-ti-ful tomorrowwwww, shining at the end of every day!...) HA! The lights were starting to come on at this point and dad had to stop and get a picture of the castle. They had a crane out by it so, I think they were getting ready to take the lights down.

Mom wanted to go through the shops on Main Street for souveniers so we headed up that way. Main Street was getting really crowded and people were already lining up for the parade. I grabbed a spot at ~6:30 and just people-watched while mom and dad were in the stores. I ended up having a really good spot in front of the store that has the jewelry and little collectible statues.

I love the night parade. I think all the lights on the floats are really cool (especially the peacock!) I don't like the people that are dressed up like Doodlebops or whatever the heck they're supposed to be. They're kind of freaky but I guess they're better than the light-up clown heads they used to wear!

After the parade we ducked into a couple of the shops and I bought a pretty little Mickey head ring. Mom found Disney saltwater taffy to take back to grandma. We decided not to stay for the fireworks so we hopped on the bus to go back to the hotel. Just as we were pulling out, the fireworks started so we got to see a few as we were leaving.

When we got back to the hotel we ate supper at the cafeteria. Mom and dad got tomato soup and chicken "noodle" (pasta shells) soup and shared a sandwich. I got the kid's cheese pizza and dad and I split an oatmeal raisin cookie. That was a dang good cookie.

We were all pretty tired when we got back to the room but that's when I had to call housekeeping and tell them to bring us our stuff. We had noisy neighbors (probably Brazillian) who started talking really loudly at ~1:30 in the morning and it woke mom and I up but other than that, we slept well.

Day 3 coming up...

[gwennie81]

WoW, gwen, just noticed you are in jeans . Brrrr ! Don't they feel colder than other pants when its cold ? Mine always feel like they are froze to me . I, sometimes, think they will break in two , right down the middle when I'm cold taking them off . :lol:


My jeans are super-comfy and warmer than any other pants I have because all I have are dress-pants I wear to work that are fairly lightweight. Also, my yoga pants were in the dirty clothes. I didn't have time to do laundry before we went.

I can't win when I go to WDW! It's either freezing cold or blazing hot! I think there's only been one time, maybe during the FAWF or the Flower Festival that I haven't frozen or melted. HA!

[gwennie81]

Day 3...

Tuesday we went to Animal Kingdom (I don't have any pictures from this day, sorry). We ate breakfast in Pizzafari, a quick-serve place. I remembered my brother and I ate there the last time and no one else was there so I suggested not bothering with the cafeteria at POR and go there. Once again, we were about the only people in there. Dad got the big breakfast. I got the kids' French Toast sticks. Mom got cereal and yogurt (boring!!). The 3 of us got coffee but they accidentally gave us 4. I just took off with the tray as quick as possible before they realized the mistake. HA!

After breakfast, we were going to do Fesitval of the Lion King but I didn't think we'd make it in time so we went up to do the Safari. It was still really chilly this day so they did not bring out many of the animals across the park (monkeys and birds, mostly). After the Safari we walked through to see the gorillas. I don't think the ditch seperating their area from the pedestrian path is wide enough, but maybe that's just my opinion.

We went in Bug's Life. Mom liked the waiting area and the bugs "singing" showtunes while we waited. She hated the show, though. HAHA! Dad and I were making fun of her afterwards. We went to see the Nemo show. That was fantastic! The guy that played Marlon (Nemo's dad) sounded exactly like the Marlon in the movie. The puppets were super-cute and colorful and all the cast member's singing was amazing. Loved it!

Dad and I went on Expedition Everest and mom wandered around while we did that. We didn't do fast pass since the wait was only 20 minutes. In the queue they have brass bells hung from the ceiling of the outdoor waiting area. I was feeling ornery so I reached up and rang one. Pretty soon other people starting ringing the other ones. HAHA! I'm such an instigator! The rollercoaster is probably the smoothest coaster I've ever been on and the Yeti trying to "get" the train adds a fun thrill.

The restroom by Everest was DISGUSTING! Poop was smeared all across the back of one toilet and the sanitary trash can was pulled off the wall in another and there was a dirty diaper on the floor. GROSS!!! I ran out of there ASAP.

We ate lunch at the quick serve walk-up Yak & Yeti. We got 2 kids' pork egg rolls. Mom and I split one order and dad ate the other. After lunch we did the Asian walk-through trail to see the tigers and then rode the train over to the Rafiki's Conservation area. In the conservation building, the lady that was portioning animal food wouldn't stop talking to my mom. She was pretty funny. Mom had one question and the lady just went on and on and on about the animals at the park and where they came from, etc., etc.

When mom finally got away from her, we got back on the train and hurried over to the Festival of the Lion King. I LOVE that show. Here's a tip, sit in the "elephant section". When you enter the theater, go to the bleachers directly across from the door and sit on the far right-hand end of the bleachers. This is where they roll the sets out from and all the characters come from out that curtain. You can also ask one of the ushers nicely if your kid can be in the show. The usher will sit them down in the front and at the end of the show, they'll get to dance around with the cast people in the show! There was a family sitting in front of us that did that. After they sat down, the mom disappeared and came back and said "That's the power of asking politely" and the usher took the two little girls down front. Then, when the show began, one of the cast members took the dad out of the audience to demonstrate an "elephant cheer" and led our section to cheer like an elephant! HA! That is one fantastic show with the costumes, the acrobats, and the SINGING!! Dang, those people can sing!

After the show, we headed back up toward the front of the park for the parade. We got a really good spot and people watched until the parade began. For once, I was right in front of the rope and not 3 or 4 people deep so I got high-fives from a lot of the characters. Mom was mad because Pluto "dissed" her. HA! After the parade, we took out of the park as fast as possible and got on the bus to go back.

At Animal Kingdom they combine PO Riverside and French Quarter into one bus. I wasn't paying attention and accidentally got us off at FQ. Oops! We went inside and used the bathroom and checked out the lobby. I think I'd stay at FQ sometime. It looked really cute and New Orleans-y. Which brings me to another point...Why didn't they do a cross-promotion with The Princess and the Frog? You'd think they'd have P&TF merchandise everywhere at the PO Resort but...nothing. I thought that was kind of weird. I think Disney missed out on a huge promotional opportunity there. Just my opinion.

We got back on a bus to go back to the Riverside and once there, all we had to do was get in the car and go home. That morning I suggested we just pack up the car and move it to the main parking lot and get on the bus at the main bus stop. So much more convenient. We drove straight through Orlando back to Port Orange and ate supper when we got back to town. Mom was worried we'd be in post-5 o'clock traffic going through O-Town but, it wasn't really that bad.

Well, that was our trip! 3 days, 2 nights at Disney. We were sufficiently exhausted when we got home. I don't think I'd ever do 3 days in a row again. 2 days is enough! And now I've been to AK twice. I don't think I plan on going back there for a long, long time. Magic Kingdom is fun about once, maybe twice, a year. Epcot is still my favorite. I could go there once a week! And I still have never been to Hollywood Studios so, I think I'll go there next time. Good thing I have my FL resident pass! YAY DISNEY!!! And thanks to mom and dad for wanting to go to the parks! They had a great time! :yes:

[Tink]

Nice report! I'm sorry you had such cold weather. That happened to me the first time I wet. It was cold and I was wearing thongs. I was able to buy a pair of socks and really neat Minnetonka mocassins. That was back in the day when there was a really neat shop in Frontierland.

Althought you had some issues here and there, it seems that all went quite well for you. :yes: It's nice that your parents like to go to Disney.

Take care now and stay warm! :D