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Karen Staycoff -- November 2000 -- Walt Disney World (Offsite)November 22 - December 11 2000 Introduction: Disney World November 22nd -December 11th. We are heading for our third trip to Disney. This report is staring 3 people :
History: In February of 1999 Sonya's mother and sister were going to Disney for a week. They had everything paid for (hotel, car, tickets and plane). Unfortunately, her sister went skiing two days before they were supposed to go and she broke her leg. The trip was TOTALLY non-refundable, So the day before they were supposed to leave they transferred everything into our name and me and Sonya went. I had never been to Disney and was not overly thrilled to go, but I was overly thrilled to be going on a free vacation. Our first day at Disney totally converted me to be a Disney freak! While there, in order to get free tickets to Universal, we went on a timeshare tour. We bought, you can remove the hook from my mouth at anytime. We bought for $7,000 a two bedroom unit at Blue Tree across the street from the entrance to WDW. Preparations: I am so determined to make this the best vacation ever. Starting with picking the dates. We really enjoyed the time in November/December last year and stayed with that time of year. Last year we left two days after Thanksgiving. This year we decided to leave the day before since that was Sonya's Birthday. We kept extending our two week trip by a day and it is now one day short of 3 weeks. So now we have 20 days! Now it was time to book the flight. Mind you it is April. I search all the on-line places for flights and found for all three of us on Northwest round trip was $589, but I did not book at the time, and when I went back it was over $800. A month of searching and on May 10th I booked us on Sun Country round trip for 2 Adults and one child Total $619. Next came time to book the car. We found Alamo to be the cheapest and booked a full size car for three weeks after taxes for $616. I will keep checking for a lower price. But at $200 a week, I think that is OK. I checked again in August and it is now $430 after taxes for a Full size car, so I did get a really great rate! Next comes time to find a place to stay. We have our time share for two weeks and will use that from 11/25-12/9. We will need a place for the first 3 nights and the last two. I searched the Internet and found Days Suites Maingate East for $59 a night. It has a living room with a couch that pulls into a queen size bed, a Murphy bed in the wall, a full kitchen and a bedroom with two double beds. Then for the last two nights we splurged and are staying in a suite at the Holiday Inn Family Suites Resort. We got the one that has a Jacuzzi in it. I think it will be well needed by then. Then in August we deiced we really wanted to splurge and spend a few nights at the Contemporary or the Grand Floridian but the are sold out all the nights we wanted, bummer. We stayed at the All Star movies last year but were not really impressed with the place. So we are keeping the places we have now. Next we made reservations for the new Discovery Cove that is opening up. We then bought Annual passes to Disney and Seasonal passes to Universal and will plan to go again in October/November 2001. So we have a lot of this trip already paid for. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at the Grand Floridian's new Villain's dinner. We have priority seating for 7:45 p.m. We have a PS at Animal Kingdom for a Character Breakfast at Donald's Breakfastsorous. Then we have a reservation for Key to go on a Pirate Cruise from the GF and goes off in search of a treasure with Goofy and Max. For Sonya's birthday I have a few surprises that she does not know about. Our first day in Orlando will be her Birthday, we have planed to get the car around noon, do a little outlet shopping and check-in, and have a nice dinner. BUT I have booked a fireworks Birthday cruise. They decorate the boat with streamers and balloons and have pop, snacks and a birthday cake and we cruise around and then go watch the fireworks at Epcot from the boat! I can't wait. Then I also bought her/us tickets to Mickey's very Merry Christmas Party later in the trip! I made Key a countdown calendar starting at 100 days (8/14/00). Each day I have the number of days left and some pictures of Disney characters. Starting 20 days before I have taped on each day $5 Disney Dollars for her for in WDW. She loves it. The Report Introduction: Disney World November 22nd -December 11th. We are heading for our third trip to Disney. This report is staring 3 people : Karen -me-(28) first trip to Disney was February of 1999, went back in November of 99 and lives for the 2000 trip. Sonya (25) my best Friend and roommate, her 26th birthday will be the first day of our trip. Keyleigh (7) we call her Key, she is Sonya daughter and my partner in crime. This will be her second trip to Disney. Her first was our November trip. Car Rental: We have a full size car for 3 weeks through Alamo for a total of $416. Accommodations: We will spend the first 3 nights at the Holiday Inn Family Suites @ a rate of $129 a night, the next two weeks at our time share at no charge and the last 2 nights back at the Holiday inn Family Suites for $99 a night. Wednesday November 22nd (day 1) travel day, and villains dinner We got to the airport around 4:45 am for our 7:50 flight. Check in went really smooth and the plane was completely boarded by 7:45. Around 8 am they came on saying there was a slight delay because they were not done refueling the plane. Around 8:30 we were finally off. The rest of the flight went smooth. We landed around noon and got our luggage right away and were off to Alamo. We got on the bus and he was about to take off with just us on the bus but stopped and let a guy on, then we were off. I belong to Quicksilver so check in took all of about 3 minutes and our car, a white Century, was right out side the door. Off to Check into the HIFS (Holiday Inn Family Suites). We got the Sweetheart room with a Jacuzzi. In the room it has a large 60 inch (roughly) TV with 70 channels, an L shaped sofa, microwave and refridge, a large bathroom with a double shower, and large bedroom. We rested and unpacked a little, and then we headed off to the Grand Floridian(GF). We had reservations at 5:15. We were seated right away. The villains that night were Captain Hook, Gov. Radcliff, the Sheriff, and the Queen of Hearts. The food was excellent, I filled up on Strawberry soup and those fabulous garlic mashed potatoes. They brought out a cupcake for Sonya and Capt. Hook lead everyone in Happy Birthday. After we were done we hopped the monorail over to MK to activate our annual passes. It was only about 7:30 and they were open until 11pm so we went in. I couldn't believe we were not sleepy by now. Here it is the night before Thanksgiving and the park was really empty. We headed for the Jungle cruise. This ride was a walk on. I was so afraid that I would fall getting into the boat that I wasn't careful with my upper part and smacked my arm really hard and got a big bruise. My first of many klutzy moments. This ride is really cool at night. After, we went to Pirates of the Caribbean, this was our first time on this ride and we didn't really like the story of it. Then we headed to the Tiki room. This was a cute show. We were heading over to Big Thunder MT (BTMR) and got stopped by the parade. Some really nice adults let Keyleigh come up to the front rope. Snow White stopped and gave her a really big kiss, she had the lipstick mark for the rest of the night. After the parade we went to BTMR with about a 5 minute wait. This ride rocks! We decided this was enough for the night and on the way out we saw tinkerbell fly and watched the fireworks go off. I was really surprised to see how far behind the castle they go off. We took the boat back to the Grand Floridian (burr)and while we were waiting for the boat we saw the electric water parade. Back home and off to bed. Thursday November 23 -Thanksgiving (day 2) MGM and Villains dinner Since it was Turkey day and we knew the parks were going to be packed we decided to make it a late start day. We had the do not disturb on the door and still the maid knocked at 9am. We asked her to come back later. Around 10am she called. I was a little annoyed but realized we were her last room and she couldn't leave until our room was done, so I told her we didn't need our room cleaned. We all took separate baths and left around 1 p.m. We headed to MGM. First we headed to Tower of Terror (TOT) but it had a wait time of over an hour, so we got fast passes for a return time of 5:55-6:55. Sonya and Key went to do Rocking Rollercoaster while I people watched. They returned to me about 30 minutes later with huge smiles. Then we headed to the great movie ride, with a walk on, and then sounds dangerous. I don't really like Drew Carey, but this was a really cool show. It's funny to take off your headphones and listen to other reactions. We stopped and had some ice cream and then headed to Muppets 3-D. When you first walk in on your right there is a ticket cage with a sign that said Key is under the mat. We lifted up the mat to see the key. It was now time for TOT fastpasses. I love the drop part of this ride. I really hate getting into the car, and heading towards the drop, my heart races and I and shake, but once we get to the part where we start dropping, I love it! We head out for our thanksgiving dinner at the GF. This buffet is so huge tonight that the food tables also go into the hall. I filled up on the Strawberry soup and garlic mashed potatoes again. The Villains tonight were Hook, Smee, Prince John, Gov. Ratcliff and Cruella DeVil. One time when Sonya and Key were up getting food, Hook sneaks up behind me and scares me, I let out a large scream and everyone laughs and Hook takes my pulse to make sure I am OK. After dinner we hop the monorail and head to MK. We entered and took the train back to Toontown. Key went on barnstormer which she said is too boring. We went through Minnie's and Mickey's house. In Minnie's house there are things to play with and more room to walk around, but in Mickey's, everything is closed off and you can look from a distance. We headed towards tomorrowland and rode the people mover. I love this. Everything was over an hour wait so we just headed out and back to the hotel. Friday November 24th (day 3) Beach We knew the parks would still be crowed so we made today a beach day. We headed to Daytona Beach. I love that you can drive on the beach. This was Key's first time in the Atlantic Ocean. She had a blast jumping in the waves. The water was pretty warm. We stopped for dinner at Denny's and headed back to Orlando. We stopped at Beltz outlet to the 2 Disney stores. Then home by 10pm. We went to the pool for awhile and then we took some baths. Saturday November 25th (day 4) Breakfast and Cinderella's, MK and change hotels. We were being a tad pokey this morning because we had to pack up and load the car. We were running late for our breakfast at the castle. It's 9:10 when we pull into the Ticket and transportation center. I drop Sonya and Key off at the Tram and then I go to park and will meet them at the castle. By the time I get into MK I run right into the trolley/horse loading up with people, so I hop it to the castle. I get there and we are lead into the room that has the fairy Godmother and Prince Charming waiting. Key is wearing her Disney Store Snow White costume. These are some great pictures. Just as she finished and said good-bye, we were called upstairs. When we got up there I was shocked at how small the room really was, but it was beautiful. The server brought some breakfast breads and fresh squeezed orange juice (yummy). Then a few minutes later plates of food were brought out. I kept eating the croissants and OJ. The princess's that were there were, Cinderella, Aurora, Alice and Snow White. After breakfast we headed to the Haunted mansion with about a 5 minute wait. I love this classic. Then it was to Hall of Presidents where for some unknown we reason we decide to wait the 26 minutes until the next show. This show really needs to be changed, it is boring, and I almost fell a sleep. When we got out it was so packed and very humid, we deiced to go check into Blue Tree and shower and take a nap. We got to Blue Tree around 1:45. Now I own a week at Blue Tree and I highly recommend to anyone one to stay as far away as possible. This place is not even worth the "free" status. I can not do stairs really well so I requested at the time of the reservation (which I made with the manager) that we needed a first floor, this was not an option. They have no elevators. Then I called 2 weeks before and was told it wouldn't be a problem, a week before and told the same. Now here we are at check in and first she says our room will not be ready before 4pm. I went to confirm it was the first floor and she says no it is the third floor. I told her that we needed 1st floor. She said rooms are all pre assigned and that all the first floor rooms are assigned. I said you can't change with someone who isn't here yet and she said no, all rooms are pre assigned. I got a little angry and said then you get a manger and have them trade us with someone who did not request a first floor. Then they said, I never requested a first floor so I will have to deal with what is assigned. I then whip out my confirmation which clearly states first floor room is needed. Then she goes, well, you will have to come back at 4 and we will see what we can do for you then, but we can't guarantee anything. So now the idea of a shower and nap are out of the question. We head to the Premier outlet for a few hours. We came back at 4 and were checked in and told that because they had to move our room around, we might have to change rooms at the end of our first week. I was too tired to argue so we were on our way out. The thing I hate about checking in here is you are escorted to your room by your "consultant". We walk out of the building and are about to drive around to the other side when he say's oh it's quicker to walk (not). On our way there some guy comes out of his room and wants to know where his washer and dryer are. Our consultant says it's located in the main closet by your bathroom. As we walk on he goes "you'd be surprised at how many people never find their washer and dryer" We get to our room and the first thing we do is go to find our washer and dryer. We open the closet to find it to be a normal closet. I go back to the kitchen and ask him where our washer and dryer are and he says it's in the closet and I go No, its not. He doesn't believe me (like I could miss it) goes and looks and goes, oh I guess this building doesn't have them anymore. (that was one of the selling points) He explains that some have and some don't. Which is not what we were told. Then he wants to schedule a breakfast with us where we each have to bring the name and address of two people we want to recommend to Blue Tree. I said to him, no, we are most likely going to sell this place and I would never recommend it to anyone! I explained to him about last year and the cockroaches we had in our room, how when we called for help, we were told they'd clean it tomorrow. And then our consultant said, those weren't cockroaches, I snapped don't tell me what we saw. He goes, well call me and we will schedule that breakfast. ARRRGGGH! So after he leaves we get out the aluminum foil and proceeded to cover every vent to prevent that again (they crawled out of the vents when we turned the heat on). As we are covering the one in the master bath there is a lizard on the wall, we finally get rid of that. We called housekeeping for extra pillows (in the suite which is supposed to sleep 6, there are exactly 6 pillows) we are told we can only have two, that's the policy. This place is really bad. The outlets are cracked, the remote in the bedroom is missing buttons, and the drawer in the dresser is too small so it falls through to the next one, we called maintenance to fix this they came and looked at it the first day and never returned to fix it.. The air conditioning does not work. They have 4 pools and only 2 are heated. We really want to sell this place. We were so misled!! After we settle, we head off to Walmart for food and misc. stuff. Sunday 11/26 (day 5) IOA Before we left we watched the weather, they said it would be 72 with a chance of late afternoon sprinkles. By the time we got to McDonalds for breakfast at 10am it was pouring. By the time we were finished, it had lightened up, by the time we parked and were walking to the gate it was pouring again. We went to turn our annual passes in for our tickets and the staff in there was rude, I asked about some of the benefits that come with it and they couldn't tell us. So after we had our pictures taken and had passes in hand we went off to Suess Landing. We stopped and bought Key a rain poncho and then went on Cat in the hat 3 times in a row, (no line). Then we headed off to One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. I loved this ride. Then we saw the Grinch. They changed his costume so now he looks like the movie. This is so much better. We went on Poseidon's Fury, this was really neat. We saw the talking fountain. This was fun. It played great with the crowd. Sonya rode Dueling Dragons ( I really hate upside down rides). Then we went to Jurassic Park to a walk on. We got soaked but we already were from the rain. Then Sonya and Key went on the new unicorn roller coaster, which Key said was lame. Then we went on ripsaw falls. I don't like how there are no restraints on this ride and the bars to hold on are in an uncomfortable spot. Then we headed to Popeye's Bluto barge. We rode this 4 times with out even getting out. The less people in the boat the less it spins, which I like. By now we are so cold and wet, and it is still raining. Then we went on Spiderman, twice since there was no line. Then Sonya and Key went on Storm force (just like the teacups), they didn't like it because it was too spiny. Sonya went on Hulk. She said Dueling Dragons was better, much smoother. We headed out. Valet parking with our annual pass is only $7.00 (free if we self parked in the garage). We decided to have dinner in Downtown Disney at the Rainforest (get it, it was raining). The wait was 95 minutes but because we joined the safari club we were seated right away! The food here was not that great. We used our gift certificates from free ride and then left a tip. We were back to the hotel by 7:30. Monday 11/27 (day 6) Epcot Key and I are fighting a bad cold so we stayed at home until 2. We headed to Epcot. We first did spaceship earth, with a walk on. I really think this is a cool ride. It is very cool to think you are going up the ball! Then we went to innoventions. We sent some e-mail postcards to people at work! We did the home theater of tomorrow. If anyone needs this then we are in trouble. We caught the boat over to America for some hot dogs for lunch (it was 5 p.m. but it was lunch for us). On the way out we saw the candle light processional was packed and there was already a stand by line for the next show of over 200 people. So we passed and went back to test track. This had a stand by line of over 2 hours and the singles line was closed. There were no more fast passes left so we skipped it. We went to Ellen's Energy universe. This was so fun. I really was surprised. Then we went to Cranium Command. So cute. Sonya and Key went on Body wars, they said it was too jerky. We then headed to Journey into your imagination. I have never been on the original but Sonya had and she pouted about something called Figment, so I don't know what I was missing, so I like this version. The only thing was I thought it was way too short, should have been longer. After, we sent some more e-mail post cards. Then it was off to buy Sonya some Figment x-mas presents. This is where Key decided to do the pin trading. She bought herself the figment pin strap and pin and a few more pins. She loved this. She hunted down every cast member to do a trade. That was really fun to watch her choose which pin she wanted and then which one she wanted to trade. We then went on I shrunk the audience. This is always a great movie. Then we went to Ice Station Cool. This was so fun. I was not brave enough to try Beverly but Sonya did and then she made Key, they both hated it, I loved the watermelon one and the apple one. We headed out during Illuminations and went to Downtown Disney to Planet Hollywood for dinner. There was no wait and we were seated right away. This is really good food here but the service can be slow. We had gift certificates for here too, but these were bought there, not free.. When we were seated the waiter asked if we had any coupons or gift certificates. We told him we had an annual pass to Disney which gets us a10% discount, and we had gift certificates to pay. He said we could only use one or the other. I said, the gift certificates were a form of payment, we don't get any discount with them, that it is the same as cash. He sighed grabbed them and said, I'll have to ask my manager, he came back 10 minutes later, tossed them on the table and said it would be fine to use both. I don't mind that he didn't know and had to ask his manager, it was the way he did it and how he tossed them on the table. Later he comes around, grabs $40 in gift certificates, and says the bill is around $40 before our discount and he will be back. He comes back, tosses the bill on the table and says we are all taken care of and goodnight. The bill was around $32, yet he took $40. I was so mad because we would have paid the $2 in cash and left a tip, but we basically lost $8. I could have argued but I was too tired. Tuesday November 28 (day 7) Universal At our timeshare we get housekeeping once a week. They came today. We told them that we just needed fresh towels today and we would not need housekeeping the rest of the week. We headed to IHOP for breakfast, it was around 11am. We waited in lobby for about 10 minutes before we were even acknowledged. Then she yelled, you guys sit here, half way across the restaurant, instead of greeting us. About 15 minutes later we met our waitress. We ordered and almost a half hour we got our food, almost. The eggs were runny, the bacon pure fat and the toast was black. I told her this food was unacceptable and she said that's they way it's cooked there, she could have them remake it but it would come out the same. I told her to just take it back, I don't want it. Sonya asked if she gets her pancakes that came with her pancake meal. The waitress goes " I will be right back with them." We did not see her again until we were all done with the meal and she brought the check. Sonya said to her you never brought my pancakes. She goes "I spent all this time fixing the bill so you didn't have to pay for the bad meal." She then walks away and brings her cold pancakes. We paid and left, never eating there again. We got to Universal around 1pm. 2 hours for breakfast. We went over to the Nickelodeon area and Key met Chuckie. Then we went on the Hanna Barbra ride. We then checked out the props from the Grinch movie. These were neat. Then it was off to Twister with about a 5 minute wait. I love to see the cows fly. You just get mesmerized on this. Then we went to King Kong with a walk on. Then we walked over to the Earthquake ride just in time to have Key picked as one of the shoppers. That was so fun. Jaws was closed so it was onto MIB. This is like Buzz but more high tech! Then it was onto ET where it was about a 15 minute wait. I received my second injury of the trip. I wasn't in the seat all the way when the bar came down and the ride took off. I got smashed into the seat funny and got a super large bruise on my thigh, here is my second bruise, and I do not bruise easily. On the way out we saw the Ghostbusters and Marilyn Monroe. Then it was off to downtown Disney for another dinner at Planet Hollywood and some shopping! When it came time to pay, we handed her our annual passes for our discount and she said, I am sorry, we don't take those anymore. I asked since when and she said about a year now. I said we were here last night and used it. She said that waiter must not have known. But I made her check with her manager and when she came back with our bill they had taken 20% off because of the hassle she gave us. I told her she didn't have to do that but thanks. Off to the hotel. At 11 p.m. the phone rings, it is housekeeping wondering if we need service tomorrow. I let him know we are fine and do not need any for the rest of the week. Wednesday November 29 (day 8) Animal Kingdom 8:30 am housekeeping comes in, yelling, housekeeping. I wake up and tell them I said we don't need it today. UGH! We head off to Animal Kingdom today. I was not overly thrilled to go here, but that will soon change. When we walk in there are characters everywhere. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Tamone, Rafki, Baloo. The only thing was that there were no clear lines at them and kids would just run up in front of kids that have been waiting or in the middle of pictures. We head to the tree of life to see It's tough to be a bug. This is so creative. Then we head to Asia. We stop at the Pearl factory and we each buy a clam and give birth to a pearl. This is such a fun experience and the surprise of the pearl we get is cool. We got 3 pearls all around 7 cm. One was pink, one was gold and the other was champagne. Then it started to rain just as we were about to go on Kali River Rapids. This isn't as wild as I thought it would be. We went on it again because when we got back there was no line. When you exit, there is a massive heater there and every one is there drying off. Then we headed to Africa. I was looking at the buildings of the town and it made me feel real lucky that I live in America. We then went to the safari. This was also a walk on. Saw a lot of the animals. Then we headed over to the conservation station. It was a long ride and a long walk to pet a few goats. On the way out we stopped at Camp Minnie Mickey to see some characters and Key did a little pin trading. Then we went to the Rainforest Café. We ordered dessert, usually we are too full after dinner to get desserts so we are having that first then we will grab Pizza Hut on the way home. Around 11pm we get a phone call from housekeeping asking if we needed service tomorrow. I said no, we won't need it. He thanked us and hung up. Thursday November 30th (day 9) Keyleigh pirate cruise, us the spa and MK Housekeeping woke us up once again, by opening our door, then knocking and yelling in, Housekeeping. Once again when will they understand? We left the hotel by 9 and headed to the GF. We dropped Key of at the marina for her cruise, and we headed to the spa. I had the 50 minute massage and Sonya had the 25 minute hydro bath and 25 minute massage. We walked out of there so relaxed, yet starving. We went to pick Key up from her cruise and they ended up being about a half hour late. We caught the ferry to MK from the Grand Floridian and went to Crystal palace for our PS for lunch. This place is a lot bigger than I thought. When we were seated we were seated at a window table. I highly recommend if you ever eat here you demand a non window seat. Kids and Adults will come and press their face right up to the window to peek in, and not just for a quick peek. Here you are trying to eat and people are 2 feet from you staring. The food here I didn't think was that great. They had sandwich makings and a few hot dishes. We were seated right after the characters went by so we had to wait about 45 minutes before they returned. After we left, we were walking towards Splash Mt. There was an open spot in the front on the line for the parade in 20 minutes so we staked our claim in front of Liberty Tree Tavern. Here we had a nice family behind us, and we let their kids come stand up in front of us adults next to Key to return the favor someone did for us the other night at the parade. The Little Mermaid float stopped and kids just rushed up, and same with the Lion King float. We then headed to Splash Mt. The sign said 20 minute wait, but by the time we walked all they way to the front, you walked right onto a boat with no wait. The only problem about this was there were too many boats so every few minutes the ride would stop so the boat in front of you could get some space. You would be jerked to a stop and then hit by the boat behind you and then a boat would hit them. Then it was off to BTMR with another walk on. I really like this ride much better at night, I got a little dizzy on it in the daytime. Then we headed to fantasyland, stopping at Haunted Mansion with about 5 minute wait. We passed It's a Small World with no line, but we passed for now. We went on Peter Pan. I like this ride, I am not a huge fan of the movie but the ride is fun. We did this again when we got off because there was no line. Then Pinocchio, Gepetto and Figero were at the entrance to the old skyway, so we went to see them. Then we went to Snow White's Scary Adventure. It had a posted time of 15 minutes but there were about 4 people in line in front of us so it was a walk on. We headed to Pooh and just as we exited the fireworks started and they were right in front of us, we had a clear unobstructed view. We started to head out, it took about an hour from the time we left pooh to get back to our car at the Grand Floridian. Stopped at Perkins for dinner and headed back to the hotel to find another message on our phone to see if we wanted housekeeping services tomorrow. UGH are they ever going to understand? Friday December 1st (day 10) MVMCP Around 9 am the phone rang, it was housekeeping asking if we needed services. I asked to speak to the housekeeping supervisor. I explain to her we are here until next Saturday and we will not need any services. I said each day they call and we say no and they came the next day any way. Her reply to me was "those stupid idiots" Which I didn't think was really necessary. But this worked, they left us alone for the rest of the time. We spent the day at the hotel to rest up for a late night. We left the hotel around 5 for dinner at Planet Hollywood. Then we went to the Ticket and transportation center to park. We get to the monorail and I had never seen so many people packed in my life. It was about 6:45. I thought it will take us an hour after they open the monorails up just to get on one and we won't get in until 9 p.m. So I suggested we run over to the Contemporary and look around in there. So we jumped on a resort monorail. When it stopped at MK there already was a line forming at the front gate so we cheated and got off. The started to let people in the gates around 7:15. As we headed down Main street it was snowing, at the end we headed into Tomorrowland. We had our picture taken and then went on buzz with about a 5 minute wait. Then we went to Space Mt. With about a 5 minute wait. We rode the left side. I got a little dizzy on this ride. Sonya and Key went on the speedway, it was about a 40 minute wait. I don't understand why this ride is so popular. Then it was off to the Teacups with a walk on. There was a meet and greet in the old 2,000 leagues area with a x-mas Pluto, Chip and Dale and Max. Then we went on Pooh with about a 10 minute wait. I love when we go bouncing with tigger, and with pooh to the heffelumps and woozels. Then to Snow White which had no one waiting, everyone was at Pooh. We rode Snow White twice. Then we shopped a little and saw the princess in the court but the lines were long so we'd stop back later. Stopped for a hot dog and pop. Then we did Peter Pan and It's a small world with no lines. Then we headed over to the Haunted Mansion to visit the 999 ghosts. Every time we ride this we see something new. Like eyes following you, pictures changing. I love the song! And the hitchhikers are so funny!!! It was around midnight and Key was sleepy so we started to head out. We stopped and saw Sleeping Beauty on the way out. Made it back to the hotel by 1:30am. Saturday December 2nd (day 11) beach day. Today we went to Cocoa Beach. We had weather in the 70's. We had dinner at Perkins and stopped for doughnuts at Krispy Kreams. Yummy! Sunday December 3rd (day 12) IOA This is the worst day of our vacation, but it comes toward the end of the day. Today we came to see Grinchmas. This is a 3 part play. We get there a little late for part one, there is already a huge crowd. We find a spot for us up front on the side. Just as it was about to start, some woman pushed her kid up in front of us and now she was in front of Key. I turned and said, excuse me, she waited here for her spot and you can't shove your daughter up there at the last minute to take it. And she snapped back, "your daughter can see just fine" finally she pulled her back. If she would have asked nice, it would not have been a big deal. After the first act, it cleared up a little, so we got a better spot. Sonya and Key went on the Cat in the hat ride, which broke down shortly after they boarded and then it didn't spin for the rest of the ride. The second act the Grinch was walking around, stealing Christmas. He was mixing with the people, digging in the trash cans, it was funny. Then after the last act he walked around posing for pictures and signing autographs. The whole time, totally in character. Then we went to the photo studio where you can have your picture professionally taken with the Grinch. He was so funny, people would call his name and he'd say what, then no one would answer. That would make him mad, he'd get and walk around to find out who was teasing him. Whenever kids would give him a hug he would freak out and shake. We waited for Max to come back from his break and so we let others go ahead of, which made him mad. He'd say who do you want to see max or the GRINCH, maybe I'll leave and you can have your picture taken with the dog. We were laughing so much. We bought 8 postcards and an 8x10 for around $46. We were getting hungry now and were off to Green Eggs and Ham. Sonya and Key went in If I Ran the zoo, while I went to a cart to shop. I went to pay and realized Sonya had my money in her pocket, so I went in to find them. They were at the bottom of the stairs and I was at the top. I was talking to her, missed the first step, and down I went. I somersaulted down ten steps. I landed on my back at the bottom. Sonya comes running over and in between my laughs and tears I managed to say "get help". By the time help got there I was laughing so hard. I knew how funny that must have looked. Oh but it did hurt. My foot was turning purple and scrapped up a little. Someone went and got ice and put it on my foot but I did not feel it. It took about 15 minutes before first aid got there and wheeled me back. This whole time I was laughing and crying. We stayed in first aid for about an hour before I could even try to walk. I could barley walk so they wheeled me to the car. About half way there I realized I forgot to pick up our package. So Sonya ran back to get it. (isn't she sweet) We went to Walgreen's to buy a wrap for my foot. Then we headed off to the Yacht and Beach Club. I met Cindy at the wdwinfo site, and she was willing to share her Illuminations Cruise with us. We parked at the Beach club and walked to the dock to meet her. She and her husband were there with their 2 kids. They were so well behaved and made us all feel welcome! We had a lot of fun. The boat parked right under the bridge and we had an excellent view of the fireworks. The wind blew in the other direction so it was never blocked. They had blankets on board so we were nice and warm. Afterwards Cindy and her family got off at the boardwalk to shop. When we got off the boat and about half way to the hotel, we ran into them again. Their walk was a half a mile and ours was only 5 minutes but it took me so long because it hurt to walk. We rested like every ten steps. One time while we were resting a group walked by and had a bunch of balloons, she handed them to Key and said enjoy. That was so sweet. By the time we got to the car, it was so sore, that no position I sat in was comfortable. It took forever that night to get to sleep. Monday December 4th (day 13) Discovery Cove and MVMCP When I woke up my foot wasn't that sore, so we go ahead with our plans. Discovery Cove was non-refundable anyway. We arrive around 9:30, the lobby is empty. They take our picture and it is on a card that will also become our pass to Sea World. We are escorted out the door and taken on a small tour. Our picture is taken, which they give you complementary later. We are assigned a swim time (10:30) and given towels and snorkel equipment. We get our wetsuits. I have never worn a wet suit in my life before and I was a little nervous that they wouldn't even make my size (5x), or if they even should. But they did and I poured my body into the lovely blue and yellow outfit. At first I was uncomfortable, I felt huge, but then I started to see other people and nobody cared at all what anyone looked like. We went into the freshwater river to try and snorkel. We swam through a waterfall, and got out because it was close to our swim time. Walking through sand was next to impossible with my foot, it took forever. I had to have someone's arm the whole time. We were about 5 minutes late for our swim time and missed the video. We listen to the instructor on what to do and not to do. It is very important that you don't touch near their blow hole. They like to be rubbed under their chin and not on top of their heads. We were split into groups of 6-7 people. We were assigned a dolphin named Yoko. We go into water about 5 feet out where it drops off from about 3 feet to 10. We stand on the ledge and they call over our dolphin, She swims by everyone for a rub down, does some tricks and then each person is called to the trainer individually for some one on one time. We get to kiss and hug them. We swim out into the deep water with your group (so it was me, Sonya and Key) the rest wait for their turn to swim out. You do some more tricks and then each person is given a ride on the dolphin. Then we return to the shallow area for a few more tricks. Then the time comes to say goodbye to Yoko. We get out and go view our photos. We end up buying the $99 package. We get 5 5x7's, 4 key chains. Then we went and had lunch. This was pre made food and you chose a salad/fruit, an entrée, (very large portions) and a dessert and soda. This was a huge and yummy lunch, and it was included in the price. After lunch we headed into the stingray pool. I was a little nervous but figured it had to be safe or they wouldn't have it. At first whenever one would come near me I freaked. But after a while, they would climb on you because they wanted to be rubbed. If you hold still they would all gather around you, so would these big yellow fish, you would turn and there would be a whole school of them by your legs. This turned out to be my second favorite part of the park. Then we went into the coral reef river. I did not like this much because there were times when it would suddenly get shallow and I would smack my foot. I had trouble walking on the sand because I would sink and my foot would bend. We swam around and were really ready for a shower and a nap so we left about 3:00, heading back to the hotel. We had a MVMCP tonight but I wasn't so sure I wanted to go. My foot was in a lot of pain. I decided to rent an electric scooter, they were $30. We headed down Main Street and people were so rude, they would cut right in front of me, I would hit them and they would turn and just say "oh". No apologies or anything and this would go on all night. We head off to Adventureland. We ran into King Louie and Aladdin, so we stop for some pictures. We then headed to BTMR, crossing the road where the parade will go by in about 20 minutes. There was no one at waiting, So we staked out a great spot on the line and waited. Here we waited for about 20 minutes and a family comes up two minutes into it and stop in front of us. I am very tired of rude people and ask them very kindly to move, that we were here first. Then we headed to BTMR, they sent us in the handicap entrance, I felt a little bad but I could not stand for more than a minute or two without pain. As we were riding the fireworks were going off over the castle and we watched as we rode. We then headed to the Haunted Mansion. We stopped for our free picture, and then headed to Snow White. We shopped for a little while, waiting for the princess to come, Key bought one of the princess hats. We stepped outside to wait for Belle, and as we were trying to find out where her line would be, she appeared and Key was first in line to meet her. She was so excited, Belle was in her x-mas dress. It was getting really cold and we were all getting tired so we headed out around 12:30. Long day! Tuesday December 5th (day 14) Seaworld, Titanic exhibit. Today when I woke up my foot was so swollen and I could not put any weight on it. So I decided to stay home today and Sonya and Key headed off to Sea World. They came back to the hotel around 6 and we decided to go to the Titanic exhibit. When you pay they give you a ticket with a passenger or Crew members name on it and at the end of the tour you look to see it you live or if you died. While waiting for the tour to start (I think there was one every half hour) there is a video playing about the building of the ship. Finally some crew members come out and explain what you are about to do. They tell you to forget what happens in the end and welcome you to the White Star Line planning room. In this room you see the plans for their ships they have built and plans for the grand Ship they are building. The next room we go and see The Titanic as she is being built. Next we are on the docks about to board the Titanic. Here we are down on the third class deck, we see luggage, and other items being sent aboard the Ship, we look up and can see 1st class passengers. The ship is so tall. Then we board the ship and meet a second class passenger who shows us what Mr. Ismay's room looks like. It is so beautiful, the woods are so rich in color. The crystal is so pretty, this looks like a beautiful room for today, let alone 90 years ago. She tells us what life is like on the ship, we turn and there is a room full of artifacts that were brought up from the ship. This is so overpowering to see real items, glasses, notes, sinks, pieces of the ship. There is a map of what the ship was like, to see how you get places, and where things were. Next we head into the coffee shop ( I don't remember the name) here you can even smell the bakery items. The carpet is the same as the one used in the movie. They have two tables set, One with dishes from the Titanic, and the other with Dishes from the movie, they are almost identical. They said the carpet we were standing on has only been made 3 times, once for the real ship, once for the movie and then once for this exhibit. Next is the room with the Grand Staircase and the clock. It was so odd. I felt like I was on the movie set. This was so bizarre to see in person. It was incredibly beautiful. This room really moved me. The Chandelier on top was so sparkly, and the music to "My Heart Will Go On" (with out the words) was playing. Next we headed down the hall and we were now in steerage. To see the stairs gates that were locked, was so scary. Then we went and saw where they stored things on the ship. The Car. This was bought for $500 and insured for thousands, so when the Titanic sank, they made a profit on the car. I don't remember who owned it. Then we headed into the captains area and saw a video of the Titanic hitting the Iceberg, you hear them ringing the bell warning of the iceberg, and then hear it hitting it. You get to send out a SOS message. On the other side of the room there is a large iceberg. It is kept at the same temperature as the water was that night. People put their hand on it to see how long they can keep it on. It brings home the fact of how cold the water really was and how amazing it is that anyone who went in that water lived for more than 5 minutes. It was so cold. The next room I found to be one of the most powerful ones. We are now on the deck of the Titanic, it is nighttime, the stars are so bright and it is very cold here. Overhead you can hear people panicking, lowering lifeboats, people saying good bye to each other, and the band playing. There are flashes of light as they light off fireworks to get help. You can hear the water below. We came back to this room after the tour and sat on the bench and just soaked in the horror of the whole thing. This was so so so very sad. Hearing a daughter say goodbye to her father and brother. In the next room there is a large wall that has everyone's name on it and if they lived or died. WOW. (we all died). There was this one family where there were 15 or 16 family members aboard. One of the members got on a life boat but when she found out that she would be the only one of her family to survive, she got out of the life boat and died with the rest of her family. They're so many more items in this room that were also brought up from the ship. Jewelry, combs and brushes, letters, money and many newspapers about the sinking and the retrieval of the bodies. There was a life jacket there that was removed from the body of a victim when they retrieved the bodies. There was blood on it. Our guide told us that the lifejackets were the cause of some people's death. That when the jumped from the ship, when they hit the water, their neck would snap because it floated right away and their body would get caught on it. There was a rubbing from a monument that Molly Brown had had for the Titanic and it read: "To the young and the old. The rich and the poor The ignorant and the learned All Who gave their lives nobly To save the woman and children"This touched me so very much. The last room was a tribute to all the movies and books written about the Titanic. There were movie posters from A Night to Remember in all these different languages. There were props and pictures from the recent Titanic movie. Before you go into the gift shop, they let you go back and visit any room for pictures or video. Then it was into the gift shop. This was worth the $16 to get in. it was so moving, and it made you want to watch the movie. When we left my foot was so swollen up again that it hurt to have my shoe on. We went to dinner and then did a little shopping and headed home. Wednesday December 6th (day 15) Seaworld We went to SeaWorld again today. Sonya and Key headed off to do the Polar behind the scenes tour, I could not take all that walking. I head towards the Dolphin feeding area, stopping at the penguin gift shop to do a little x-mas shopping for Sonya, she loves penguins. Then I went to the dolphin pool. It was about a 15 minutes before feeding time, and normally the dolphins stay away from the people. This one dolphin came up to me and let me pet her for about 5 minutes, a SeaWorld photographer snapped some pictures of this. They turned out really nice because it was just me petting the dolphin. So of course I had to buy it, Sonya and Key caught up and we feed the dolphins. I am always amazed at how rude some people can be. We spend the money to feed them but as soon as a dolphin comes up to you, people will push you out of the way so they can pet them. I can't tell you how many times that had happened. After this we headed off to feed the stingrays. I thought if we were brave enough to swim with them, then feeding them wouldn't be a problem. Boy was I wrong. This gave us the heebie jeevies. You have to hold the fish like a cigarette and put your hand flat on the very bottom of the pool and then the ray will swim over your hand and suck it up. It looked like they swallowed your hand and arm, but it was really cool. Once you feed one, word gets out that there is food and then you have like 10 huge stingrays in front of you. You sure don't want to stick your hand back in with one fish for 10 rays, so we waited before we fed the next one. We then shopped for awhile and headed out. We went to dinner at planet Hollywood and shopped in Downtown Disney for a little while. Thursday December 7th (day 16) Animal Kingdom, Chef Mickey's, MVMCP We left around 1, and went to Animal kingdom. We got here and parked and got to the gate at around 2, decided to have lunch in the Rainforest and use up the rest of our gift certificates in food and merchandise. We were not impressed with the food at the Rainforest at all. Lunch ended up taking us forever, super slow service, and partly our fault. Right after we ordered, for some reason we both changed our minds on what we wanted and tracking down our waitress was like pulling teeth. A busboy passed us and we asked if he could find our waitress for us right away, we need to change our order. He said Ok and then turned and continued to clean tables, never leaving, I asked another waitress, only to have her track down the manager for us. We explained that we wanted to change our order and asked 2 other people to help us get our waitress. Finally she was passing by and we stopped her. For the life of us we could not get anyone to track her down. We left and got into the park at 3:45, it closes at 5. I went over to rent a scooter, and they did not charge me because it was so late in the day. How very sweet. We went to the Pearl booth in Asia because we decide to get these as presents for family members. I was a little disappointed in the person helping us, he so was not into it and kept trying to sell to other people in the middle of doing ours, not paying attention to us and skipping parts of the "ceremony". I got one that was over 8 cm and Sonya got a blue one. Then we headed off to ride Dinosaur. I was not overly excited to ride this, the queue area was boring as was the pre show. But this ride was so cool. It really kept you on your toes, not sure what was coming, if there was a large drop (I was thinking Jurassic Park). This was lot of fun and we wanted to ride again but it was 5:00 and they closed the line. So we headed out, shopping along the way. We headed to the Contemporary for dinner at Chef Mickey's. We were about 10 minutes early for our check I time at 6:30 and we were seated around 6:50. We got to our table and I waited for our waitress and Sonya and Key headed off for food. They got back and our waitress had not been there yet so I told Sonya if she comes to order me a root beer, and I headed off for food. I got back and Sonya had ordered our drinks. We were all finished with our plates when She finally came with the drinks. I ordered another Root Beer right away and headed off for more food. By the time she came back with my drink we all needed for so we all ordered 2 drinks each. She finally brought those when our meal was completely done. How very frustrating. We asked for our check and this took another 20 minutes. Part of me wanted to put money on the table for what I thought it would be and leave. Her service was so slow and she never apologized for it or offered any reason why. So we paid and headed to the monorail and to Mickey's last Christmas party for us. There was a lot that we wanted to do tonight. I rented a scooter again and we headed to Buzz Lightyear. Then we headed towards Fantasyland, meeting the Mad Hatter and The White Rabbit and Alice along the way. We rode Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and then staked out a spot for Belle's Enchanted Christmas. We sat here for almost 45 minutes, but you had to in order to get a spot. After the play, Belle's Friends come out and talk to the Children. Then we headed to the Haunted Mansion and then to Big Thunder Mt. We were all getting tired and headed out, stopping at the side of the castle to take it in and watch it changes colors. Friday Dec 8th (day 17) MGM We head to MGM and got there around 1, our plan was to see the Lights and Fantasmic. Yea! No scooter, I am walking almost normal. We head towards the Tower of terror, it had about a 10 minute wait so we went. I really hate this ride but I love the drops. I just hate the ride to the drops and Key thinks this is so funny. I am yelling at her not to talk to me or touch me and I have this look of horror on my face as she is laughing at me and we are nowhere near the drops yet. The picture of this ride is that so we have to buy it. Next we head to Rock and roller coaster. I really hate upside down rides but I promised Key I would go. We get there and just as we are about to enter, it changes from a 20 minute stand by to a 30 minutes. Oh well. When we get in, I remember that they take your picture right away and last year I had a look of sheer terror on may face. So this time I am all ready to be cool, I have fixed my hair, I have my arms out in a thumbs up pose. As soon as we took of, my arms flew to the chest bar and that look returned to my face, almost exactly the same as last year, so we did not buy this. After the ride stopped, I really thought I was going to throw up. I was so sick. We made it out into fresh air, and sat down for a few minutes. I remembered why I hate upside down rides. We stopped for something to eat at Rosie's. I had one of the best club sandwiches this whole trip. With our stomach's full we head off, going towards the Back lot tour. We do backstage pass, we have never done this before. We really found this very boring and a waste of our time. Plus it was all walking and my foot was still sore. The one cute part of this is where they pick a guy from the audience and morph him into a scene with Tim Allen. Then we also saw where they will be building the millionaire studio. After this we headed off to the Backlot tour. They stopped picking people out of the audience to participate in the water/ship scene. They just have dummies in there and it looks bad. We then head to the tram for the tour. I noticed that the Mickey water tower does not have the Santa hat on this year. It turns out, I find out later from a cast member, that they lost the hat. The put it in storage last year and they looked everywhere for it and just can not find it. Go figure, misplacing something so huge. We are the last tram of the day so we get out and head towards the lights. My foot is very sore, so we stop and rest. The pre show to the lights start and New York Street is packed all the way to the end. We watch the pre show and the turning on of the lights, and get our special snowflake glasses. These are so cool. The turn the lights into colorful snowflakes. Sonya and Key head into the lights and I agree to meet them at the car, my foot is to sore. So I head to the car. The 2nd show of Fantasmic is canceled today because MGM is closing promptly at 7 p.m. tonight (normally 8) because some little league football team bought the park for a special event. I shop on the way out and get to the car and am joined by Sonya and Key about 15 minutes later. We decide to come back to MGM tomorrow for Fantasmic. Home to pack. Saturday December 9th (day 18) check out/in and MGM Today we go back to the Holiday Inn Family Suites. This is my favorite hotel. We awake and check out around noon and arrive at the family suites. We arrive to check in, wait in a long line with only 2 clerks doing check ins and outs. Finally I get up there and they tell me there is no room ready until after 4. I am angry because I made sure we requested early check in this day and even joined their Priority Club to guarantee this. I ask to speak to a manager and he there was no way he could help except to arrange pre check in. Frustrated I agree, since there are no other options (except after they scan my credit card, I realize we could have gone to another hotel, but it's too late now). He said he will send a bell man out so we can check our luggage (we don't want to go to a theme park with a car full of luggage). After waiting close to 20 minutes Sonya goes in and asks if he plans on sending the bell man today. Finally he comes and checks our luggage. We head off to MGM with no showers. We had planned on taking them at the new hotel and then off to the park but no luck. We head to Rosie's for that fabulous club sandwich again. Sonya and Key do Rock and roller coaster again and then we did Tower of terror. A little shopping and then we went to Sounds dangerous. This is so fun to hear others talk because they have headphones on so they yell. Then we head to Muppets again, and then to Al's Toy Barn. The lines for Buzz, Woody and Jessie were so incredibly long so we skipped it and continued on. We shopped a little and were getting really tired and all wanted a shower so we decided to skip Fantasmic again and head out. I head to the car and Sonya and Key go take one more ride on the roller coaster. Then we headed to Planet Hollywood for dinner. Tonight was the most crowed ever. There was over a half hour wait. Downtown Disney was also packed. It turns out a group called O town was there plus some radio thing at Pleasure Island. Parking was hard. We parked way at the end of the lot. Dinner was yummy of course, but they messed up my dinner adding onions and had to wait an extra 15 minutes. This really did not bother us that much but the manager came over and apologized and gave us 20% off our meal. Which was nice, but we were not that upset because I am the one who special orders it. Then we hit the shops on the East Side on the way out. The magnet store is so cool, but I can not see paying $20 for a magnet. We stopped in the candy store so Sonya can buy her parents some fudge and Key did some pin trading. Then home and we went swimming. Then we took baths and settled. Sunday December 10th (day 19) Grandparents Grave and a beach My grandparents are buried in Florida National Cemetery so we were off to visit them and the to a West Coast beach. The directions we were given had us take the slowest highway that had a stop light every 5 feet, it took us 2 hours to get there. We visited for a while and then grabbed a map to find a beach. We drove south a little along the coast, hoping to find a beach. The ones we found were all rocky and not sandy. On the map we found a place called Honeymoon Island, it is detached from the main land so we thought that was perfect. It took over an hour to get there because the speed limit was 35 the whole way and there were so many stop lights. By the time we got there, paid to park, parked, hiked to the beach to discover a very rocky, dirty beach with dead stingrays at the waters end. So I told Key I would take her to the pool tonight. And we headed out. This time taking 75 home. Stopped for dinner in Clearwater at Ruby Tuesday's and then as we were crossing that huge bridge into the Tampa, the sun was setting so we pulled down by the water and watched the sun set. It was very pretty. We drove down by the water for a bit and then headed back into town. We stopped at the outlets one last time and head back to the hotel and to the pool. Then we finished packing. We brought just enough suitcases (four empty suitcases). And settled in for our last night. We were planning on maybe Magic Kingdom or Islands of Adventure for our last day. Monday December 11th (day 20) HOME We had a full day left, our plane was at 7:45 p.m. We just couldn't, for the life of us, decide what we wanted to do. There was a little something at each park that we wanted to do, but we didn't want to park hop, and could not pick what we wanted to do so we stayed in the hotel until 1 p.m. Then went and finished any shopping we had at the gift shops along the way. We headed to the airport around 5, I dropped Sonya, Key and the luggage off at the airport and I headed to return the car. I waited forever on the bus back to the airport. When I got there, Sonya did curb side check in so all I needed to do was show my ID. We stopped at the Universal store at the Airport because I really wanted to get my dad the Grinch nutcracker and we never made it back. I was so in luck and I got the very last one. They were marked down from $69.00 to $29.00. I bought a few gifts for some co-workers and then we headed to Chili's for dinner. After that we headed to the Disney store for one last item or two, or ten. As we excited the elevator there was a glass case that had a person in side called the traveler. It was this guy asleep with his luggage around him. It looked so real. In the Disney store I picked out some chocolate truffles and suckers for little gifts for people. Got a key chain and then headed off to the gate. We had about 10 minutes before the time they would start loading and we were worried because our carry on bags were very full. We get there and there is no plane. It got stuck in a snow storm, and arrived about 25 minutes late. Ok here is where I milked my injury for a bad reason and I felt guilty for a little while, they had people who needed extra time to pre board and I used it, I was still limping a little but not that bad. We were seated towards the front so we would have been the last to board and all the over head bins would be full and we would have no where to put ours, they would not have fit under the seat. I know, this was wrong and I felt bad but, I got over it. The trip home was fine except I was so wide awake that I could not sleep no matter how hard I tried. I didn't leave a book out so I was so bored. We got home around 11pm and slept in our own comfy beds. Summary- the good the bad and the rest
Overall this was a great trip and we had so much fun but we ended up relaxing a little too much and missed out on some things, but we will be going back before our annual passes expire. I planned a lot for this trip using various web sites and I know that made our trip a lot better. Writing a trip report was a lot harder than I thought but it will help with the memories down the road. Karen Staycoff Lthouseprincess@earthlink.net Mail a Comment to Karen Staycoff |
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