Travel dates: December 4-19, 2008
Travel method: Flying from Portland, Oregon; Rental Car

Hotel: Disney’s Pop Century Resort

Accommodations: Standard View Rooms

Ages Represented in Group: 50 and 29

Experience Represented in Group: This is our second trip to WDW
Cast: Patty (me, 50), Jason (son, 29)

Background:A few years ago, Jason and I impulsively cancelled a planned October trip to Disneyland and booked a seven night trip to Walt Disney World to take advantage of free dining. When we estimated the cost of the trip, it was roughly the same as what we had budgeted for Disneyland. Neither of us had thought we would ever visit Florida, assuming it would be too hot and humid for us. Anything over 72 degrees is considered too warm for us. Well, it was very hot and very humid, but we had an amazing time. Such a good time, that we’ve been planning and looking forward to this trip ever since.

Planning:

Travel Specialist
I had heard good things about Mouse Fan Travel from the WDW Today podcast and decided to give them a try for this trip. I was used to handling all the details of for our trips, so I wasn’t sure how it would feel to relinquish control to someone I didn’t know. I have been more than pleased with the service we’ve received from our agent. She’s been wonderful to work with, rebooking our trip a couple of times to get us lower rates, making our ADR’s, and arranging for the other activities like tours, Candlelight Processional and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party tickets. I’ll definitely use her again.

Admission
Since we plan to spend 14 days in the parks on this December trip and plan to return the following November, it makes sense for us to purchase annual passes. Plus we are hoping for an AP discount on our hotel rooms. We purchased our AP’s in August 2007, just days before the price increased, thanks to a tip from MouseSavers. With another price increase this past August, we saved around $35 each.

Accommodations
We decided to stay at the Pop Century Resort, which is where we stayed during our first trip. I had briefly toyed with the idea of staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, but just couldn’t justify the extra expense. We would have had to shorten our trip to stay within our budget. At the end of January, I submitted a request for a quote through the MouseFan Travel website and within a couple of hours received a quote from an agent. She booked two standard rooms for us and submitted our requests for connecting rooms in a quiet part of the resort. Last time our rooms overlooked Hourglass Lake and it was so amazingly quiet and peaceful. There were no discounts available at the time we booked our rooms, so at the time we were paying rack rate. Since then, Disney sent me a postcard with a PIN code good for 30% off rack rates for part of our trip. Later, AP rates were released for most of our trip. Each time our agent proactively rebooked our trips so that now we're paying an average of around $57 per night instead of the $82 per night that we started with.

Since our flight leaves so early in the morning, we decided to spend the night near the airport. My dad usually drives us to the airport and it didn't feel right asking him to get us to the airport at 4:30 AM. We had some Wyndham Rewards Points that were due to expire soon, so we each used enough of our points to book a room for one night at the Ramada near the airport. We picked this hotel, sight unseen from the website, so we really don't have any idea what we're in for.

Transportation
Living on the West Coast, flying is the only option for us. Because we’re flying in December, when bad weather could be an issue, we decided to pick a flight that wouldn’t require us to fly into any airport where we might get stranded during a snowstorm. We decided to fly to Seattle, a 50-minute flight away, then fly non-stop from there to Orlando. I had a discount code from Alaska Airlines entitling me to a $50 companion ticket with any paid fare so we decided to splurge and fly first class for the first time. In addition to roomier seats the benefits include being able to check two pieces of luggage at no charge, complimentary personal video players, a hot breakfast, and complimentary passes to the Board Room on the day of travel. Plus the fares are completely changeable and refundable at no charge.

On our first trip, we relied solely upon Disney transportation. This time we decided to rent a car because we planned to visit many of the other resorts to check out the Christmas decorations. We also vividly remember waiting at the bus stop for several buses before we were herded on to a crowded bus and had to stand during the ride back to our resort while overly tired children had meltdowns. I rebooked our rental car five times with two different companies before finally getting a pretty good rate with Alamo. Using a code from MouseSavers and a coupon from the Alamo website, we'll pay $275 for an economy car for 15 days.

Dining
One thing we discovered during our first trip to WDW was how much time it takes out of your day to eat at a table service restaurant. Besides, we really prefer to graze our way through the day rather than have set meal times. We decided to limit our table service eating to an average of one every other day. After reviewing the menus online, we pared our list down to the following: Tony's Town Square (a volunteer at my work loves this place and says we must eat here), Liberty Tree Tavern, and Sci-Fi Dine In for lunch, Hollywood & Vine, Trail's End Café and Le Cellier for dinner, and Kona Café for breakfast. A few days before the 180-day mark, I emailed the list of ADR's to our travel agent. She was able to get the restaurants we wanted at the times we requested for everything except Le Cellier. No problem, we'll try to do it on our next trip. We also plan to purchase the Tables in Wonderland membership once we arrive. This way we'll be able to use it for two trips before it expires.

Tours/Activities
We definitely want to attend Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and take the Yuletide Fantasy Tour. We were able to use our annual passes to get discounted tickets. Another must see is the Candlelight Processional so we ended up getting the dinner package so we'll be guaranteed a seat. We'll be eating at Biergarten in Germany, a first for us. We'll also be attending a VIP Illuminations Dessert Party hosted by our travel agency. This was one of the special things they are doing for their clients who book a special MouseFest package.

RideMax/Touring Plans.com
Because WDW is so large and can be overwhelming, I created an Excel spreadsheet on which I listed the park hours for each park for each day and which parks had Extra Magic Hours. Subscribing to TouringPlans.com gave me the best and worst parks to visit each day, as well as the projected crowd level. Once this information was all entered, I was able to decide which park we'll visit each day. I used this information to plan which day we'll eat at which table service restaurant. Once our ADR's were made and the different activities were scheduled, I created a spreadsheet of our itinerary that was broken down into 15 minute increments and with cells color coded according to either the park we were visiting or the type of activity we were doing. Each park was assigned a color. Meals, activities, travel time to and from the parks, and rest periods were also given their own color. Yes, it's probably overkill, but I had a lot of fun doing it. I also subscribed to RideMax. We've used it in the past for Disneyland when we've gone during the busier times. It has proven itself time and again. Typically, we've been able to stay ahead of the schedule. I spent many a lunch hour trying out different options. I ended up coming up with pretty detailed touring plans for at least the first couple of times we visited each park. After everything was finalized, I created pocket itineraries for each day and printed them out on card stock. They are about the same size as a FastPass. Each morning we'll grab the itinerary for the day and be ready to go.

GPS
Because I have a terrible sense of direction, I'd been considering purchasing a GPS for a while. It seemed like a good idea to get one before our trip. After doing a lot of research, I decided on the Garmin Nuvi 265WT. I chose this one because it speaks the street names, has Bluetooth capability so I can pair it with my cell phone, and it comes with free traffic alerts. I also chose a Garmin so I could download the custom points of interest file that Mary Waring's (from MouseSavers) brother created and made available for download on her site. I'm hoping this will help me navigate around the area without the added stress of being in an unfamiliar area.

Day 0 - December 3, 2008

Plan: Pack, relax until afternoon, check into the Ramada, get a good night's sleep

Actual:
After going to bed at midnight and waking up at 4:30 AM, I gave up trying to go back to sleep and got out of bed at 6:00 AM. I was too excited to sleep. After over a year of planning and anticipation, the day had finally arrived. I thought I could get packed and ready to go within a couple of hours and then spend the rest of the day relaxing. Instead, I worked like crazy from 6:00 AM until my parents arrived at 3:00 PM to drive us to the Ramada, stopped for about twenty minutes for a quick lunch. At one point, I seriously doubted if I would be ever be ready, but somehow things came together at the last minute and I was ready when they pulled into the driveway. Traffic was light and we made it to the Ramada in good time. After checking in, I realized that I didn't bring the most current copy of our flight itinerary. Alaska had made multiple changes to our flight schedule in the seven months since we booked our fights and I had grabbed an older version. Fortunately, they had a couple of computers with printers in the lobby and I quickly printed out what I needed. We drove around to the side of the building where our rooms were and unloaded the car. We were very impressed with the hotel. The grounds were very well maintained, the rooms were immaculate and the staff friendly. We also liked that the hotel had interior corridors. Best of all the room was free with our Wyndham Rewards points.

Once we dropped off our luggage, we got back in the car and drove a long ways to a Wal-Mart in Wood Village so my mom could return something and Jason could get some ginger capsules for the flight. Jason and I also each purchased a bottle of water and a book of crossword puzzles. We were in and out in 20 minutes. Before returning to the hotel, we stopped at Elmer's for dinner. It was decorated for Christmas with a beautiful tree in the entry and a large Nativity just inside the door. We were seated at a table near the fireplace. Mom ordered the prime rib, Jason had a salad made with organic greens, grilled chicken, hazelnuts and dried cranberries, and Dad and I both had the flat iron steak, eggs, hashed browns and a biscuit. The meal and service were both excellent.

With full stomachs, we headed back to the hotel and said goodbye to my parents. We'll be sending them pictures and text messages throughout the week, just like they did on their trip to Disneyland during the last week of October. We'll also plan to post our whereabouts on Twitter and upload pictures to Flickr.

Jason came into my room and watched TV while I got out the laptop to charge the GPS. At 8:00 PM he went to his room and I updated the trip report. Since my wake up call is for 3:00 AM, I turned things off at 9:30 PM and went to sleep.

Day 1 - Thursday, December 4, 2008

Plan: Travel Day; unpack and relax

Actual:
In spite of a very comfortable bed, I still didn't sleep well, waking every 30 minutes to an hour until 1:30 AM only to be awakened at 3:00 AM by my wake up call. I quickly showered and packed up the few things I unpacked for the night. Jason came over at 3:30 and we hung out in my room until 4:00 AM. Although I could have crammed everything into one large suitcase, I opted to divide it between two suitcases so I would have room for souvenirs on the way home. These two pieces plus a large purse and a tote bag made it very challenging to maneuver. I'll probably regret this later, but at the time everything I packed seemed essential.

We quickly checked out at the front desk and waited for the shuttle to arrive. After snapping a few pictures of the hotel and Christmas tree in the lobby, I decided to jump online and setup my Twitter account so I can text updates from my phone. The shuttle driver arrived and loaded up our luggage. Promptly at 4:20 AM we were on our way and arrived at the airport 10 minutes later.

There was practically no line to check our luggage but a huge line at the security checkpoint. Within a few minutes a large group of TSA employees arrived and opened up additional lines which made things move much more quickly. We passed through without incident. We had about 20 minutes until the Board Room opened so we sat at a nearby gate until it opened.

This was our first time in the Board Room and wow was it nice. It was very quiet with groupings of comfortable chairs and tables. We set our stuff down at a table near the window and went to check out the snack area. In addition to coffee, tea, water, soft drinks and juice, there were muffins, loaf cake, bagels, toast, English muffins, fruit and oatmeal. Jason had a muffin and a glass of water. I had a slice of loaf cake and a cup of coffee. While we ate, I updated the trip report.

We didn't have a whole lot of time to spend because our flight was due to begin boarding at 6:00 AM. A few minutes before 6:00, we packed everything up and made our way to the gate. Our gate was waaaaaaay down at the other end so we ended up walking pretty briskly. When we arrived, they hadn't begun boarding yet so waited around for a few minutes and then boarded the plane.

The flight to Seattle was uneventful and quick. The plane was pretty small and had propellers, which was a first for me. It was very noisy, but bearable for the short flight. Once we landed in Seattle, we had just under an hour before our next flight was due to leave. We hung out in the Board Room and I worked on the trip report again.

About fifteen minutes before we were supposed to board, we headed over to the gate. This is our first time at the Seattle airport and it was much larger than Portland. Fortunately, there was a train that went around to the different terminals so in no time at all we arrived at our gate.

They had already started boarding so we were able to walk up to the first class line and enter the plane without waiting. Waiting on my seat was a pillow and blanket. I sat down in the roomy seat and marveled at all the leg room. My two carry-ons fit easily under the seat. Between our two seats was a wide console. No need to jockey for possession of the center arm rest.

Soon after settling in, the flight attendant brought us each a small bottle of water. On the center console was the breakfast menu. In addition to seasonal fruit and assorted pastries, we had a choice of either a three cheese omelet with sautéed mushrooms and honey ham, chicken apple sausage and herb roasted red potatoes or cinnamon French toast with maple syrup, scrambled eggs and Applewood smoked bacon. Both of us chose the French toast.

The flight left on time and soon after we were served our beverages. Jason had water and I had coffee. The coffee was served in the ceramic mug. Next we were handed our complimentary DigEPlayers. There were nine movies available, an assortment of TV shows, cartoons and other programming. Since breakfast would be served shortly, I just checked out what movies were available and will watch something later.

Breakfast was delicious. First, we were served a plate of seasonal fruit containing honeydew melon, pineapple, blueberries and a strawberry. Then the attendant came around with a basket of warm pastries. We had our choice of a croissant, a bear claw or a scone. Next she brought our entree. The cinnamon French toast and bacon were delicious. The scrambled eggs were better than I expected.

During the meal, we experienced some moderate turbulence caused by a jet stream coming down from Canada. The captain decreased our altitude and about twenty minutes later things smoothed out. After I finished eating, I pulled out the laptop and updated the trip report. This is the first time I've ever brought a laptop on vacation and it is really handy. In the past, I would make notes on a small spiral notebook and after we returned home, I would write my trip report. Sometimes I couldn't read my writing or figure out just what the heck I was talking about. I'll still make notes of what we do so that it will jog my memory later in the day.

I spent the rest of the flight either napping or watching a movie. The flight attendant came around periodically to see if we wanted anything to drink. About two hours before the end of the flight, she came around offering mixed nuts in a small bowl. At the first bite I realized the nuts had been warmed. Just one of the many nice touches we experienced throughout the flight, like cloth napkins and real flatware instead of plastic. Just before landing we were offered a warm, moist towel to freshen up with.

We touched down in Orlando at 4:55 PM. It was still daylight out; at home it would have been almost dark. We were off the plane in no time and after a quick restroom break, headed downstairs to baggage claim. It was a good forty minutes before the luggage came out.

After retrieving our bags (I was already regretting my mountain of luggage), we headed down a level to the Alamo counter. There were only a few people in line, but it seemed to move very slowly. Whenever I rent a car I always reserve the least expensive car which is usually a compact size, but always get upgraded to a midsize because they run out of the smaller cars. I guess some people are happy with that but I would prefer a compact because that’s what I'm used to driving. This time, however, they had plenty of compacts so I was very happy. We chose a purple Aero because we thought it would be easier to spot in the parking lot. We loaded up the luggage and were able to get all three big suitcases in the trunk. Because we were in a parking structure, the GPS was unable to get a signal. Fortunately, the signs pointing to WDW were pretty clear and we had no trouble finding our way until the GPS kicked in. Thanks to the forums, we were prepared for the tolls on 417. I had an envelope of one dollar bills and a container full of quarters.

We arrived at the Pop Century at a little after 7:00 PM, later than we had hoped. There was no line at check-in and in no time we had our room keys. We were in the 80's building. It's a little bit of a hike to Everything Pop, but really close to the parking lot. We were happy with the location.

After parking the car in the 90's lot, we unloaded our luggage and went to find our rooms. We were on the third floor of building nine, and we were able to get connecting rooms. The rooms looked pretty much the same as our rooms did when we were here three years ago. Each room had two double beds, a table and two chairs, an armoire with a 27" TV, three shelves and six drawers, an iron, ironing board, hair dryer and safe. The bathroom had a tub and toilet with the vanity outside the room. It's probably a bit small for a family, but perfect for one person. And, wonder of wonders, there was a tiny towel animal in the window of each of our rooms.

It was on the drive to the resort that we decided it would be a good idea to activate our AP's that evening rather than wait and try to do it before entering the park the next day. We also wanted to get a Tables in Wonderland membership so we could use it that evening at the food court at the resort. We hopped back in the car and set the GPS to EPCOT. After one wrong turn, we ended up at EPCOT and were able to get a parking spot pretty close up. We knew Illuminations would be starting soon, so we wanted to get in and out before the mad exodus afterwards. We went quickly through bag check and then realized that we didn't have a clue where Guest Relations was. It also didn't help that it was dark outside. Jason finally spotted it and we quickly activated our AP's and purchased the Tables in Wonderland membership.

It was difficult to walk past the turnstiles, see Spaceship Earth and not go in. But we were tired. It had been a long day and I was operating on very little sleep. We were also very hungry so we headed back to Pop and walked over to the food court. After picking up our refillable mugs, we checked out the offerings at the different stations. Some of the lines were very long and we didn't feel like waiting, so we chose a station with a short line. Jason had the chicken nuggets and I had a chili cheese dog. Both of them came with french fries. Of course, we had to have Mickey Rice Krispie treat. We also picked up a couple of bottles of water to tide us over until we can make a grocery run tomorrow.

The total for everything came to $41.92 with our Tables in Wonderland discount. We filled up our mugs and went to find a place to sit. Jason enjoyed his nuggets and I thought the chili cheese dog was tasty. We were both so hungry that we would have eaten just about anything. We refilled our mugs with hot chocolate and headed back to the room.

I wanted to do some unpacking, but I was so tired that I was only going to unpack what I needed for the night. Jason came over to my room and we ended up watching Eleventh Hour on TV. We are big TV watchers and have our DVRs’ at home set to record all our favorite shows while we're gone so we don't miss anything. I unpacked during the commercials.

At eleven, Jason said goodnight and went to his room. I ended up unpacking everything, even though there's a chance we'll have to change rooms on Sunday. We had to split our stay into two different reservations so that we could get a discounted room rate during the second half of the trip. Hopefully, we'll be able to stay in our same rooms. I just don't feel settled until I unpack.

I finished unpacking and then got ready for bed. I set up a wake-up call for 6:45 PM. It was now 11:45 PM so that gives me seven hours of sleep. I drifted off to sleep to the sound of Stacy counting down the top seven must sees.

Day 2 - Friday, December 5, 2008

Plan: Animal Kingdom, Grocery Stop

Actual:
I woke up at 6:38 AM, just minutes before my wake up call. I love getting wake up calls at Disney. It's a great way to start the day. I showered and dressed and then opened the connecting door between our rooms. While I waited for Jason, I worked on the trip report for a while. He appeared around 7:30 AM. By 8:00 AM we were ready to leave for Animal Kingdom. We grabbed our refillable mugs to leave in the car so we can swing by the food court when we return later on.

The plan was to spend the entire day at Animal Kingdom, from opening to close since it closes at 6:00 PM. We arrived around 8:15 AM so we were able to park very close to the entrance. At the entrance was a beautiful Christmas tree. It was shaded from the sun so we decided to wait until it was in full sunlight to take the picture. Before getting into line, we stopped by Guest Relations to pick up a Guide Map and Times Guide. We were so early that there were only about a dozen people in line in front of us. While we waited, we reviewed our pocket itineraries and went over the plan for the day. The time passed quickly and soon we were using our AP's for the first time. The plan was for Jason to head over to Expedition Everest to grab us FastPasses while I walked over to Dino-Land. As soon as we went through the turnstiles, I handed my pass to Jason and he went one way around the Oasis and I went the other way not realizing that we would need to wait at the other side until the official park opening. After Minnie, Mickey and Goofy officially opened the park, Jason headed over to Expedition Everest while I leisurely made my way over to Dinosaur. It was a perfect morning, the sun was shining, although a little on the cool side, which is exactly the way I like it. Very few people were headed this way so much of the time I had the area to myself. I stopped to take a few pictures and just soaked in the atmosphere.

It wasn't long until Jason joined me outside of Dinosaur. We entered the building and there were only four people in line ahead of us. Immediately, we were taken to the preshow area and then boarded our vehicle. This was the second time I've ridden this attraction and it was scarier than I remembered. I've ridden Indiana Jones at Disneyland many, many times so I was prepared for the rough ride. Having all those Dinosaurs pop out at me unexpectedly was a little unnerving. At one point I just knew a dinosaur was going to jump out at me so I covered my eyes with my hands. It just happened to be at the same time our picture was taken.

Next was Triceratops Spin, which had no wait. I rode in the front and controlled the forward and backward tilt, while Jason sat in the back seat and controlled the up and down movement. Very fun ride! Before we had a chance to chicken out, we got into line for Primeval Whirl. Neither of us likes spinning rides. It was only last year that I rode the teacups for first time. There was about a 10 minute wait during which time we were getting cold feet about the whole thing. But we stuck it out and it ended up being pretty fun, even the spinning part at the end. But it's probably not something we'll do very often.

We had done everything in Dino-Land that we wanted to do, so we headed over to Discovery Island where we entered the depths of the Tree of Life to see It's Tough to Be a Bug. We've seen this many times at Disneyland, but there's something about knowing you're inside this enormous tree that makes it extra exciting. There was only a five minute wait until the next show started.

Next we headed into Africa to see what the wait was for Kilimanjaro Safaris. The posted wait time was 30 minutes so we grabbed FastPasses instead and then went through the Pangani Forest Trail. I must say we were both a little underwhelmed with this experience. It just didn’t seem like there was that much to see.

By now it was 11:00 AM and we were both starving. We planned to eat at Flame Tree Barbeque so we headed over that direction. It had just opened and there were only about three people at each register. The smell of BBQ was heavenly. We decided we would order the 1/2 slab of St. Louis ribs and the 1/2 BBQ chicken and split the meals so we could try some of each. While I waited for our order, Jason went to check out the seating area to see where the best place to sit was. He returned just as our order came up. We grabbed utensils, containers of BBQ sauce and plenty of napkins and headed to a spot down by the water. It had an amazing view of Expedition Everest. There were also tons of birds around which we at first thought was cool, but turned out to be a little creepy. They were very bold and just clustered around our table, waiting for food to drop. People were feeding them, which contributed to the problem. I'm not sure why people think that's a good idea. The food was excellent. In addition to the BBQ meat, the meal was served with baked beans and a corn muffin. We also ordered cups of ice water, which are free. We plan to do this everywhere we eat. It saves a lot of money. Our total bill after the 20% Tables in Wonderland discount came to $17.02.

After we finished eating, we snapped a few pictures of Expedition Everest before heading over to use our FastPasses. Only four minutes passed from the time we entered the FastPass return line until we boarded our train. When the ride first started, I remember thinking that this wasn't so bad, but as soon as we started up the long hill, into the mountain I began to get nervous. It was really, really high up. I closed my eyes until we reached the top. That ride is really intense, more intense than anything I've ever ridden. The part where you go backwards had me completely disoriented. At one point I wasn't sure which direction we were going. The ride finally ended, and I was pretty shaky when I stepped off the train. We decided against getting a FastPass to ride again. Jason wants to ride it again before we leave for home. If he does, then I'll do it do just so he doesn’t have to ride alone. What a great mother I am!

We decided to use our FastPass for Kilimanjaro Safaris, after first getting another FastPass to do it later. It was 12:40 PM and the FastPass Return time was for 1:24 PM, less than an hour away. After a 20 minute wait in the FastPass line, we boarded our safari vehicle. They were really packing people in; we were wedged in the last seat of the vehicle without a bit of spare room between any of us. The safari itself was disappointing. Very few animals were visible and the ones that were seemed to always be on the other side of the truck. I tried to take some pictures but I don't think many of them turned out. Most were blurry or I would snap the photo just as a tree or post blocked my view.

We checked our Times Guide and realized that we had time to make the next showing of Festival of the Lion King. Neither of us had seen this before and didn't really know anything about it. I guess in my mind I was expecting something along the lines of Playhouse Disney, geared to younger kids. Boy was I wrong. The show was awesome. The performers were amazing. I look forward to seeing this again.

It was getting close to Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade time, so we stopped at Kusafiri Coffee Shop and Bakery for cookies and cups of ice water. Jason had chocolate chip and I had sugar. We walked the entire parade route looking for a bench or wall to sit on, without success. Finally, we ended up on some rocks in front of Pizzafari. We had about 45 minutes to wait it wasn't long before the rock became extremely uncomfortable to sit on. When the parade began I ended up standing up. It was a great location to watch the parade. It was shady and cool and because no one was sitting on the other side of the parade route, the performers focused all their attention to our side of the route. We both really enjoyed the parade. We had a couple of little children sitting next to us, so the characters all seemed to stop and greet them, giving us excellent photo ops.

After the parade ended, we used our second FastPass for another ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris. We had our own row in the truck which meant we could slide to one side or the other to take pictures. This time there were a lot more animals out. Unfortunately, we both still took lousy pictures.

We left the park at 4:50 PM. Both of us were hungry so we used the GPS to find a nearby Waffle House. We wanted to eat someplace that we didn't have in Oregon. We finally arrived, only to discover the place closed down. There seemed to be another one not too far away. We finally found it and at first thought it was closed. We walked up and it was open, there just weren't any other customers. Our server was a very friendly woman, who really made us feel welcome. We each had a waffle and shared a side order of bacon. Jason had sweet tea (another thing that isn't served in the Northwest) and I had water. The total bill came to $12.55 for the two of us. If it works out, we'd like to eat here again before we leave.

There was a Publix right around the corner, so we stopped to pick up a bananas, string cheese and nuts to snack on in the morning. This will tide us over until lunch. We also added a case of bottled water. It was a short trip back to Pop. The roads are becoming a little more familiar although I feel more secure knowing the GPS can always rescue me if I get lost.

After we took everything up to the room we walked over to Everything Pop and filled our mugs with hot chocolate. Slowly, we're learning our way around the resort. The fact that it's always been dark out makes it more difficult figure out where we’re going. We walked back to our rooms and watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone until 9:30 PM. Jason said goodnight and went through the connecting door to his room. It is so convenient having that door between our rooms.

It was a good first day in the parks. We enjoyed Animal Kingdom much more than we did during our first trip.

Highlights: Festival of the Lion King show, the parade and eating at Flame Tree BBQ.

Pedometer Stats:
Miles: 6.35
Steps: 20,124

Day 3 - Saturday, December 6, 2008

Plan: Magic Kingdom, Lunch at Tony's Town Square Restaurant

Actual:
I woke up at 6:00 AM, fifteen minutes before my scheduled wake up call. I quickly got ready and then opened my side of the connecting door. While yesterdays pictures transferred over to the laptop, we walked over to Everything Pop to fill our mugs. This was our first look around the resort in the daylight. When we were here three years ago, we pretty much stayed in the 60's area, where our rooms were located. Now we had a chance to check out more of the resort.

Back in the room, I updated the trip report and ate a banana and some string cheese, since our lunch reservation isn't until 1:05 PM. At 7:50 AM we left the room and drove over to the Magic Kingdom. After parking the car, we walked to the Monorail station, arriving just as it was pulling out of the station. Within a minute or two, another one pulled into the station. As we walked down the ramp, we could feel raindrops, and I thought about the rain poncho that I left back in my room.

We had really high expectations for today. So high that we were bound to be disappointed. We knew that today was the day they were taping the Christmas Parade, but we didn't think it would affect the rest of the park. All the regular guests were gathered on the left side of the main entrance area, while the guests who were going to be part of the taping were gathered on the right side. To get out of the rain, we moved over to the side where the parade extras were and sat under the tree. We were hoping that once all the extras went in, they would let the general public enter.

Our plan for the day was to do everything in Adventureland, Frontierland and Liberty Square. I had our touring plan all mapped out for the morning. But because of the parade taping, we were not allowed to walk down Main Street. Instead, when the park opened, we were led backstage by Tony's Restaurant. There were a lot of trucks and trailers parked back there and a large white tent with tables and chairs inside. I was guessing that it was probably where the film crew ate their meals. We made our way along the backside of Main Street and finally emerged near the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station.

If you look at the Guide Map for the Magic Kingdom, that backstage area looks like a beautiful park with grass and trees. In actuality, it's very average looking and a little disappointing. Our first visit to the Magic Kingdom in over three years and instead of being able to walk down Main Street and get our first glimpse of the castle, the scenery was very un-magical. I'm glad it wasn’t our very first time there. As we walked along backstage, we saw a sign that read, "Plan B Evacuation." That struck us both as funny. It's like if Plan A doesn't work, let's go to Plan B and see what happens.

We quickly realized that it would be difficult to get to the other side of the park in any timely manner so we scrapped our touring plan and decided to wing it for the morning. Since we were already in Tomorrowland we decided to pick up FastPasses for Space Mountain. I put my AP in the FastPass machine and nothing came out. I tried it several times with no success. The CM came over to help and came to the conclusion that my AP had somehow become de-magnitized. She gave me a special card to use to get FastPasses for the day and said I should stop by City Hall to have my AP reissued.

Buzz Lightyear had a posted wait time of five minutes, so we hopped into line. The line was actually 10 minutes, but that still wasn't bad. Neither of us did very well. At Disneyland, you can take the laser guns out of the holster, which makes it easier to hit the targets. Needless to say, neither of us scored very well. We were also disappointed that we weren’t able to email our ride photo to ourselves like Disneyland.

We needed a serious pick me up so we decided to ride what has to be one of our favorite attractions at the Magic Kingdom, the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. As soon as we reached the top off the escalator, the ride shut down. Fortunately, it started up again in a couple of minutes. I wish there was someway to bring this attraction back to Disneyland!

By now we were both starving and we still had several hours until lunch. We took a look at the Guide Map and saw that the Lunching Pad served corn dog nuggets. That seemed like a good snack that we could easily share. However, contrary to the Guide Map, they only served turkey legs, pretzels, chips and soft drinks. Jason was really disappointed and we've made it a point to check out the menus of any food establishments we come across hoping to find those elusive corn dog nuggets.

We moved on to Fantasyland. Mickey's PhilharMagic had a very short wait, so we went inside. This is another attraction that we both love. I love the soundtrack and could watch it over and over.

Next we moved over to Frontierland and picked up a FastPass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Both Big Thunder and Splash Mountain were closed temporarily.

We were still starving so we checked our Guide Map and headed over to Liberty Square where we enjoyed funnel cake at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments. This was the first time in my life I've ever had funnel cake and it was excellent. Our hunger pangs satisfied, we walked through Liberty Square just as they were bringing the floats out for the parade taping. So we found a spot to sit and watch as they passed by.

Next we headed over to Adventureland, where Jack Sparrow was doing his show. We watched the very last part of it and then headed into Pirates of the Caribbean. The Florida version seemed a lot shorter than the Disneyland version.

According to my watch we were able to get another FastPass so we decided on Splash Mountain. This time we both had trouble. We'd put our tickets in and nothing would come out. The CM wasn't rude, but his whole attitude was one of indifference. He flatly stated that we already had FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain. The clock at Splash was a couple of minutes slow. So we waited a minute and tried again. This time it worked. The whole thing was odd because if you aren't eligible for a FastPass you usually get a ticket that says so.

Because we knew the parade taping was still going on, we hopped the train and rode around to Main Street for our 1:05 PM ADR for Tony's. It took longer than we expected so we arrived at Tony's barely a minute before our ADR time. We checked in and sat down to wait to be seated at our table. Through the front window we could catch glimpses of Regis and Kelly as they finished up their portion of the parade.

Within a few minutes of arriving, we were seated at our table by a very friendly CM. That was the last time we saw a smile. Our server was competent, but never smiled and never made us feel welcome. She took our order and that was the last we saw of her until she brought the bill. Someone else brought our food to the table. Jason ordered the spaghetti and meatballs, I had the Chicken Parmigiana with spaghetti. The chicken was dry and both of us thought the spaghetti sauce tasted funny. The theming of the restaurant was minimal. Other than a few pictures of Lady and the Tramp, there didn't seem to be much of anything to remind you of the movie. Our entrees were $16.99 each, which I would have paid without hesitation if the entire experience had been special. With our Tables in Wonderland discount, the total bill with an18% gratuity (which was added automatically) came to $35.07. This was our first time using Tables in Wonderland at a table service restaurant and it was a little confusing at first. Included with the bill was a little card that stated that the gratuity was not included. The bill had a place to add in the tip. But if you looked at the itemized bill, you could see that the tip had already been added in. It seemed a little misleading. After thinking about it, we thought that perhaps that card about the gratuity was there for those on the Dining Plan, since the gratuity is no longer included in the plan. We left the restaurant knowing that we'd probably never go back.

The plan was to return to the Pop Century for a rest, but we decided to use our FastPasses for Splash first in case we got soaked. Before entering the ride, we picked up another set of FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain. We both enjoyed Splash and emerged just slightly damp.

Before heading back to the resort we stopped by City Hall and I had my AP reissued. Back at Pop we refilled our mugs and rested in our rooms until 6:00 PM. The TTC parking lot was very crowded and we spent a fair amount of time trying to find a spot that was close to the front. We entered the Magic Kingdom at 7:15 PM and walked the entire parade route looking for a bench or wall to sit on to see Spectromagic, which neither of us had ever seen. There wasn't any place to sit other than the ground and I didn't feel up to standing for the more than 45 minutes until the parade began. We decided to do other things and see the second parade at 10:00 PM.

Since we were in Frontierland we decided to use our FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain. We spent about eight minutes in line and the ride broke down. We waited another couple of minutes, but the CM's weren't sure when it would be up and running again so we walked back out. We asked about the FastPasses that we had just handed the CM and he said we could go to the FastPass machine and the CM would give us another one. When we exited the ride we heard a CM say to a guest that he didn't have any FastPasses and it would be 20 minutes before a supervisor would be there to bring more. We were welcome to wait if we wanted. We didn't want to wait. So far, the day had been a series of disappointments. If this had been our only day in the Magic Kingdom we would have been really disappointed.

We were both hungry so we stopped to eat at the Columbia Harbor House. We ate here on our first visit when we took the Keys to the Kingdom Tour. We enjoyed it so much that we came back a second time during our stay. Now looking at the menu, we couldn't find the sandwich that we enjoyed so much before, so we settled on splitting an eight piece order of chicken nuggets. I seemed to recall that they served chicken strips rather than nuggets the last time we were here.

We found a seat upstairs. The entire place was packed with people. We split the nuggets and fries and drank our cups of ice water. I love the atmosphere in this place but prefer it when it isn’t so crowded. We ate here once before when we were the only ones upstairs. It was wonderful.

It was 8:10 PM when we finished eating and the parade, which started at Main Street hadn't reached Liberty Square yet. We walked along the route towards Frontierland and found a vacant spot at the rope. Within a few minutes the parade came by and it was fantastic. I love Disney parades and the lights on the floats were amazing. When the seven dwarfs came by, one of them came over and hugged me. Suddenly, it was a great day.

After the parade, we walked over to Liberty Square and found a spot on the wall to watch Wishes. Although I'm sure the view from Main Street is probably better, this was a great spot to watch without investing a huge amount of time saving a spot.

When Wishes was over, we went to Fantasyland to use our FastPass for Peter Pan but the line seemed long, so we did It's a Small World instead. After, the line for Peter Plan was lot shorter so we rode then. Peter Pan is one of my favorite attractions. It must be everyone else's too, because the line is always long.

We decided to call it a night. Main Street was very crowded with people watching the 10:00 PM Spectromagic parade. We had planned to duck into the bakery for a cookie to take back to the resort, but the line was huge. We wanted to be out before the parade ended because it would be enormously crowded then.

We stopped at Everything Pop to refill our mugs. I got a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar and Jason got some carrot cake to take back to the room. The total with our Tables in Wonderland discount came to $5.10.

Because we had to split our reservation in order to take advantage of the special room discount, tomorrow we had to check out and then check in again. I called the front desk to see if we would be able to keep our same rooms. Unfortunately, we would not be able to. It was late and we both were very tired. Jason hadn't really unpacked so it wouldn’t take much for him to be ready in the morning to change rooms. On the other hand, I had completely unpacked. I thought about getting up earlier in the morning and packing but decided to just get it over with tonight. I started packing up at 11:30 PM and finished around 1:15 AM. I was asleep shortly after.

Highlights: Seeing SpectroMagic and Wishes for the first time; Mickey's PhilharMagic being just as wonderful as I remembered it; enjoying my first Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar of the trip.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 23,774
Miles: 7.5

Day 4 - Sunday, December 7, 2008

Plan: Epcot, Candlelight Processional

Actual:
I was up at 6:00 AM and quickly finished packing. At 7:30 AM we lugged everything down to the car and drove over to Classic Hall to check in to our new rooms. As expected, our rooms were not ready yet, so we were given a card with a number to call later in the day. Our new rooms would be in the 50's section. It looked like the building was fairly close to the parking lot, so that will be nice. We dropped off our luggage at luggage services because we couldn't fit everything in the trunk and didn't want to leave anything in the back seat.

We arrived at EPCOT and were able to park very close to the entrance. Once the turnstiles opened we made our way past Spaceship Earth to the fountain to wait for rope drop. As soon as the park officially opened we went left towards Mission Space, our first attraction of the day. The music that was playing was the same one they use during the Year of a Million Dreams commercials. As we passed by Mouse Gears, all the cast members were lined up along the way waving at us. It was awesome and a perfect beginning to the day.

We made a slight detour to pick up FastPasses for Test Track once we realized how close it was.
This would be our first time on Mission Space, since the tamer side wasn't available the last time we were here. I was still a little nervous since I didn't know what to expect. There was no line so we immediately went into the preshow area. We were given our assignments. As commander, my responsibilities were the second stage rockets and the shields. Our entire team did a great job and we completed our mission successfully. I really enjoyed the ride and would like to do it again sometime. Jason thought that once was enough for him. To me, it didn't seem any more intense than Star Tours.

After Mission Space we went over to Spaceship Earth where the wait time was only about five minutes. The camera caught me mid-blink so that's the picture I had to look at during the part at the end where they show you in the future.

To minimize the amount of walking, we planned to take each area and do everything in it before moving on to the next area. After Spaceship Earth, we rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends. It was cute, but we both agreed that we like the Disneyland version best, where you get to ride in the submarines. The downside of the subs is that the wait time is a lot longer.

We looked around at the fish exhibits before moving on to Turtle Talk with Crush. The show was as entertaining as usual.

Next stop was The Land, where we picked up FastPasses for Soarin'. Living with the Land had a five minute posted wait. The line looked a lot longer than that but it moved quickly. It was actually only eight minutes.

Circle of Life was next. It was entertaining, but we both found that if you get us in a cool, dark theatre with comfortable chairs, we have a hard time staying awake.

It was 11:30 AM when we emerged from The Land and just for kicks we called and found that Jason's room was ready, but mine was not. By now we were both getting hungry. The Electric Umbrella was nearby so we ordered a bacon double cheeseburger with fries to share and two cups of ice water. The bill came to $8.09, which works out to just over $4.00 each. We both could have eaten our own burger, but sharing one left us satisfied, but not stuffed. Our ADR for dinner was at 4:15 PM and we didn't want to fill up too much.

The day had been overcast and cloudy for much of the morning. While we ate, the sun came out so we decided to head over to Mission Space to take some pictures and use our FastPasses for Test Track. I love Test Track, especially the part at the end where you race around the outside of the building at 65 miles an hour.

Jason was considering buying a small plush Mickey Mouse at each of the four parks, so we popped into Mouse Gears to see what they had for Epcot. There was a Test Track Mickey, but he wanted something that represented the entire park, not just one attraction.

Since we planned to be at Epcot until late tonight, we decided to go back to Pop Century and get settled into our rooms. We could pile my luggage into Jason's room if my room still wasn't ready.

Our new rooms were on the fourth floor of building nine, with a great view of the lake, very peaceful and beautiful. When we entered Jason's room, he immediately noticed that there was no connecting door. I called the front desk to ask if we would be able to move to connecting rooms. She said that the resort was 100% full and that priority for connecting rooms was given to people who had children in the next room. We totally understood, but were still disappointed. I know this week is busy with Pop Warner going on, so we planned to checked back later in the week to see if anything opened up, although I'm not too crazy about packing up and moving yet again. We were able to get rooms right next to each other. One good thing about the location is that we had a perfect view of Epcot with an unobstructed view of Illuminations.

We debated on whether to call Luggage Services and have our bags brought to our rooms. In the end we decided to walk on over and pick them up. We wanted a chance to rest before we returned to Epcot and weren't sure how long it would take to have them brought to the room. It was a long walk over to the main building and another long walk back to the room. Once again I questioned my decision to bring two large suitcases.

Back in our rooms, we parted company and rested for awhile. At 2:15pm we returned to Epcot. Once inside, we used the FastPasses for Soarin' that we picked up that morning. Even with the FastPass, we waited a long time to ride. The line just didn't seem to move at all. Finally, we boarded our flight and it was well worth the wait. I absolutely love this attraction and could ride it over and over. It's my favorite at Disney's California Adventure Park.

We spent more time in line waiting for Soarin' then we anticipated so we felt hurried when we emerged after our ride. It was time to head over to Germany for our Candlelight Processional Dinner Package ADR at Biergarten. I had planned to take a leisurely ride on a Friendship Boat across the lagoon and stroll the short distance to the Germany Pavilion. We were afraid that taking the boat would take too long and decided to walk instead. We walked very briskly so, instead of arriving cool, calm and collected, I ended up arriving tired and sweaty. Before checking in at the restaurant, we veered off to use the restroom so I could I try to cool myself off with a wet paper towel. I had left my small brush back at the resort in an effort to keep my little backpack as light as possible, so I tried to comb my unruly hair with my fingers.

There was a very long line of people waiting to check in, so we joined the line and about 15 minutes later we checked in and were given a pager. There was no place to sit inside, so we went outside and sat out in the courtyard. We had to squeeze past a few strollers in order to sit down. It bothers me when people leave their strollers directly in front of prime seating areas.

Within a couple of minutes the pager went off and, as directed, we walked into the restaurant. We were greeted by a very friendly cast member who asked us to wait until the rest of our table arrived. We were joined shortly by two more parties, an older couple and three 30-something people. The cast member led us to our table, which was located on the top level, not too far from the restrooms. The two other groups sat down at either ends of the table, leaving the middle for me and Jason. It was all rather awkward sitting with strangers. We knew this was how it would be, and normally would avoid these types of situations. However, Biergarten was one of the least expensive restaurants on the Candlelight Processional Dinner Package. The option was the Garden Grill restaurant, which was a character meal, and we weren't really up for that either. In hindsight, I wish we'd just splurged and gone for Le Cellier. If you consider how much we spent on the whole vacation, the difference in price between Biergarten and Le Cellier was insignificant.

Immediately after being seated, our server came to take our drink orders and direct us to the buffet. I'm not a very adventurous eating so there were a number of things that I wasn't willing to try. Even so, I managed to find plenty to fill my plate and went back for a second trip through the buffet line. The desserts were outstanding though. I particularly liked the Black Forest Cake and the Apple Strudel. Our server was Hagen and he was very attentive and friendly. One of the other men at our table spoke some German and enjoyed conversing with Hagen in his native tongue. I wished we could have heard more from the performers on stage. They were finishing up a show as we were being seated and we finished eating before they appeared again. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great, I really felt as though I was in a quaint German village. Hagen handed us our badges for the Candlelight Processional along with the check. The bill with tax and tip came to $82.27. I didn't ask about a Tables in Wonderland discount since I had read that it wasn't available on package deals, like Candlelight Processional and Fantasmic.

It was 5:30 PM when we left the restaurant and we figured we had plenty of time before we needed to line up for the 6:45 PM show so we browsed through the shops in Germany for about 15 minutes. After we were done in Germany, we decided to scope out the line for the show so we wouldn't be scrambling at the last minute. When we arrived at the front of the America Gardens Theater, we asked a couple of cast members that were standing there. They directed us to the line that was forming on the left side of the theater. It was an hour before the start of the show and already there was a long line of people waiting. We quickly walked to the end of the line. From the brief glimpse I'd had of the theater, it didn't look like we would all fit.

After a few minutes in line, we struck up a conversation with the couple behind us. They were Florida residents and came every year to see the Candlelight Processional. As soon as we started talking with them, the time just flew by. They kept us entertained with stories of past year's celebrity narrators and we all discussed the differences between the California and Florida Disney Parks. It was so nice to be able to talk about Disney with people who love it as much as we do.

All too soon, the line started moving and in no time we were inside the theater. As we entered, I could see that the theater was much larger than I originally thought. The huge line of people in front of us barely made a dent in the seating. We found seats slightly off center about halfway back. There was a break in the seating in the row in front of us because of a tree just to the right of where we were seated. The tree didn't affect our view at all and it was nice not having anyone directly in front of us. Now that the sun had set, it was getting very chilly, even for those of us from the Northwest. We both left our jackets back at the resort, not thinking for one second that we would need them. It's Florida for goodness sake.

The goosebumps I felt from the cold were joined by the ones I experienced once the show began. The entire show was amazing and I never wanted it to end. The choir and orchestra were magnificent. This evening the celebrity narrator was Virginia Madsen and she did a great job. It was the highlight of the entire trip.

After the show ended, we decided to head back to the resort. It had been a long, busy day and I still wanted to unpack and get settled in my room. We had brought our refillable mugs along in the car so we stopped at Everything Pop and filled them with hot chocolate before returning to our rooms. Jason hung out in my room while we drank our hot chocolate. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was on TV so we watched it for a bit before saying goodnight. I quickly unpacked and then went out on the balcony to watch Illuminations. I was asleep shortly after 10:00 PM.

Highlights: Having the cast members lined up outside of Mouse Gears to greet us at park opening; riding Soarin'; talking with the nice couple in line for the Candlelight Processional, and of course, the Processional itself.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 21,838
Miles: 6.89

Day 5 - Monday, September 8, 2008

Plan: Hollywood Studios, lunch at Sci-Fi Dine-In Restaurant

Actual:
I was up at 6:30 AM and we were out the door by 8:00 AM. It took us just a few minutes to drive over to the Studios since it's the closest park to our resort. We managed to get an excellent parking spot in the first row so it was just a short walk to the entrance. We stopped to admire the big Christmas tree in front of the park and take some pictures. Once inside, we still had a few minutes until the park opened so we walked along Hollywood Blvd until we were stopped by everyone waiting for rope drop. The plan was to hit Toy Story Mania first. Jason walks much faster than I do, so I handed him my annual pass. He would walk ahead and pick up FastPasses for us, and then we would join the standby line to ride before the line got too long. That was the plan and apparently everyone else had the same plan. It seemed like everyone sent one person from their party to the FastPast machines while the rest of the group got in line. Even though there were only about a dozen people in front of Jason getting FastPasses, they were each getting four or more FastPasses a piece. One guy had eight park hoppers that he was feeding into the machine.

I arrived at the attraction while Jason was still in line to get our FastPasses so I ended up joining him in the line. There was no point in me getting in the stand by line until he was ready. We both feel that the polite thing to do is to wait until your entire party is assembled before getting in line. There's nothing more annoying than having someone fight their way through the line of people, trying to join their group further ahead.

Our FastPass return time was for 10:05 AM, just under an hour away. By this time the stand by line was at 40 minutes. We decided that rather than spend all that time waiting in line, we'd do other things then come back and ride later with our FastPasses.

The Great Movie Ride was nearby so we decided to do that. There were only a handful of people in line so we boarded in no time. This time we had the gangster scene. Actually, that's the scene we had each time we rode during our trip in 2005. Jason didn't believe me when I said there was an alternate western scene.

Next we decided to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid Show. As I write this part of the trip report almost four weeks later, I can't for the life of me, remember what this show was about. I guess it wasn't very memorable.

We were eligible for another FastPass so we decided to get one for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. As we passed Starring Rolls Café on the corner of Hollywood and Sunset, we decided to stop in. We still had three hours until our lunch ADR and wanted a little something to tide us over. The line was way too long and moved slowly so we decided to skip it.

We picked up our FastPasses for Rock 'n Roller Coaster. It was 12 minutes until the next show of Beauty and the Beast so we went on in. There were still plenty of seats so we found a spot on the end of a row so Jason could videotape it without someone's head in the way. We both enjoyed the show.

This time when we passed by Starring Rolls, the line was much shorter so we went on in. The selection was a little sparse, but we decided to split a cinnamon roll. Lunch was only 90 minutes away and we didn't want to spoil our appetites. The bill with the cinnamon roll and two cups of ice water came to $3.19 with tax.

Hunger abated, we headed over to Toy Story Mania to use our FastPasses. We thought about picking up FastPasses for later on, but the return time was for 7:15 PM. We weren't sure if we'd still be here at that time. All but one of the FastPass machines was out of passes for the day. They were in such high demand that we didn't want to take one unless we were sure we would be able to use it.

Toy Story Mania was extremely fun. I would have to say it's in my top five attractions. I really enjoyed the queue and tried to take some pictures, but they really didn't do it justice. We ended up only riding it twice this trip. FastPasses ran out so quickly and the standby line was ridiculous.

After Toy Story, we walked around for awhile until 15 minutes before our 1:05 PM ADR at Sci-Fi Dine-In. We were seated within two minutes of checking in. We were in the back seat of the car with a family of four in front of us. The kids were in the front seat, with the parents behind them. I wasn't paying too much attention to the people in front of us, but we'd been seated for a minute or two when I became aware that the man in front of us was complaining loudly about the lack of service. I thought he was acting rather rude since we'd only been seated for two minutes. After another minute (at the time it seemed longer), he turned to us and handed us some napkins. That's when I saw his cast member name badge. It was our server, Mickey. Apparently, the husband had gone to the restroom and Mickey had slipped into his place at the table. Once the husband returned and was seated in his proper place, Mickey took our drink orders and since we were all ready to order, took our lunch order as well.

Jason and I ate here during our first trip, when we were on the dining plan. At that time, appetizers were included on the dining plan and we had the onion rings. They were so good that we decided to split an order of them this time, even though we normally never order an appetizer. Within a few minutes, they arrived and a few minutes after that our entrées arrived. We both ordered the ribs, which came with coleslaw and a cucumber/melon salad. The ribs were outstanding, just like we remembered them from before. We enjoyed the food and watching the old movies on the big screen. I've heard many people say they don't like the food here. We've only ever eaten the ribs, and absolutely love them. The bill came to $48.48 with tax and tip, and with our Tables in Wonderland discount.

After lunch we had planned to find places to see Block Party Bash, but we walked the entire parade route and were unable to find a place to sit. People were already staking out their favorite spots more than an hour ahead of time. I didn't feel up to standing for such a long period of time so we decided to do something else instead.

We decided to use our FastPasses for Rock 'n Roller Coaster so we headed over that direction. We walked right into the preshow area and were seated on the ride before we knew it. I was a little nervous about riding, but I knew, for me anyhow, that the most intense part of the ride was at the beginning. Once I get through the loops, I just settle in and enjoy the rest of the ride. This is one ride where I dread riding it, but once I do I'm glad that I did.

We were ready for something a little tamer, so we walked over to the Animation Courtyard and got in line for the Magic of Disney Animation. We thought this was where you learn to draw a character, but it turned out to be a show on how animators bring a character to life. The show is exactly the same as the one at Disney's California Adventure. Once that show was over, we continued on until we found what we were looking for. The cast member had already corralled together the maximum number of people that the room would hold, so we were going to have to wait for the next show. Fortunately, two kids were called out by their parents and had to leave so the cast member let us take their places.

Jason did this for the first time earlier this year when he was at Disneyland with his grandparents and cousins. I was amazed at the finished product and looked forward to trying it myself.

We were let into a room with several rows of drawing tables with a stool in front of each place. At the front of the room was a platform with a drawing table for the animator. A big screen in front of the room projected what the animator was drawing so we could all follow along. Each of us had a large piece of drawing paper and a pencil. There was no eraser on the pencil to keep people from constantly making corrections to their drawings and slowing down the short class.

The animator wanted us to draw a character that no one in the group had drawn before so he went down the list of characters until he reached Tigger. He walked us through the process of what was basically just drawing different shapes and lines until at the end of the session we ended up with a pretty good drawing of Tigger. I am not artistic by any means, but even my drawing was totally recognizable. Very fun time, I'm hoping we'll have time to do this again.

Next we entered One Man's Dream and spent some time looking at the exhibits before going into the theater to see the film. We love Walt Disney and absolutely love this attraction.

The Backlot Tour was scheduled to close at five, so we hustled over there and managed to get in one of the last tours of the day. While we waited in line, the cast members were trying to get volunteers for the first part of the show. No one was stepping up, so they good naturedly threatened us with the fact that the tour wouldn’t start until someone volunteered. Finally, someone did so we were able to move on. We had one really good volunteer who did a great job of hamming it up. He was funny and really made it interesting. The rest of the tour was the same as before. Now that I've done this twice, I don't feel like it's something I need to do every trip. I tried to snap pictures along the way, but with the tram moving, most of them turned out blurry or off-centered.

After the Backlot Tour was over we decided to see the Prince Caspian show. We got into the line and waited a few minutes before they started letting people in. We were six people from the front when they cut off the line, so we had to wait 10 minutes or so for the next show. I didn't know what to expect from this, we were basically killing time until the Osbourne Lights came on. Finally, we were directed into a room where I think they showed some clips on the making of the movie. I'm not exactly sure what we saw, but I do know it was ultra boring. It involved standing up and my knees were really bothering me at this point. After this pre-show, we were led into another room, where we had to stand during another boring part where they showed clips from the movie. I found a spot to lean against, which helped a bit. The whole thing was really a disappointment. I was under the impression that we would get to see Prince Caspian, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The Prince Caspian exhibit served its purpose and by the time we emerged, the Osborne Lights had come on. Taking the advice from the podcasters from WDWToday, we started at the back and worked our way towards the front. It was supposed to be less crowded that way, but honestly, I didn't really notice any difference. It was wall to wall people, but fortunately, we were able to keep moving through the crowds. We both really enjoyed it, the lights were amazing. It wasn't until later that I remembered that special 3-D glasses were available for annual passholders and that there were tons of hidden Mickey's that we should have been looking for. Anyway, we both enjoyed it. I tried to take pictures while we walked through, but you can guess how they turned out. Jason videotaped it and that turned out much better.

I had hoped to see Fantasmic, but we were ready to call it a day after the Osborne Lights. We decided to do Fantasmic another night. At 6:30 PM we left the park and headed back to the resort. We stopped by Everything Pop and picked up a couple of meatball sub sandwiches. The sandwiches came with a salad, which was one of the few vegetables we'd had since arriving. We also picked up cupcakes for later and bananas for breakfast the next morning. Of course, we refilled our mugs too. The total bill with tax and Tables in Wonderland discount came to $19.21.

Because it's such a long walk to the food court, we parked in the check-in lot and picked up our food before driving over to the parking area for our building. As we approached our rooms we noticed that the Mousekeeper had left towel animals in the window. Jason had a Christmas wreath that was pinned to the curtain and I had a snowman. We were really happy to get those.

Once we were in my room, Jason dragged the table over between the two beds so we could watch TV while we ate. We ended up watching Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and an episode of Chuck. The food was good, but we were stuffed afterwards. The sandwich was large enough that we could have easily shared it and been satisfied. After Chuck was over, Jason said goodnight and went to his room. As soon as he left, I ran a hot bath and soaked the soreness out of my muscles for a while. By 10:00 PM it was lights out.

Highlights: Sci-Fi Dine-In was as great as we remembered, learning to draw Tigger, seeing the Osborne Lights, and getting towel animals in our rooms.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 15,287
Miles: 4.82

Day 6 – Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Plan: Epcot for Extra Magic Hours in the morning, Magic Kingdom in the evening for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party

Actual:

Today we were out the door at 7:19 for our first Extra Magic Hour of the trip. The drive to Epcot was quick and because it was so early we were able to park very close to the entrance. There was no one in line at the bag check so we moved through quickly. It seemed that since many people take Disney transportation, the bag check nearest the bus stops is usually busier than the bag check on the other side of the entrance.

The plan was for Jason to head over to The Land and pick up FastPasses for Soarin’ while I made my way over to Test Track. We both waited at the rope on opposite sides for the park to officially open. I was right at the rope and watched several cast members buzz by on Segways. Jason did the Segway tour a couple of times at DCA. If we’re able to convince my parents to join us on our next trip in November, we’d like to do the Segway tour at Epcot. I know my dad would really enjoy it.

Once the park officially opened, I made my way over to Test Track, once again being overwhelmed by the sight of all the cast members waving at us from Mouse Gears. When I arrived at Test Track the posted wait time was 20 minutes. By the time Jason arrived, it was still 20 minutes. However, the actual wait was only about 5-10 minutes.

After Test Track was walked back to The Land where the posted wait for Soarin’ at 8:35 AM was 25 minutes. We hopped into line and the actual wait ended up being only16 minutes. On our way out of Soarin’ we picked up another set of FastPasses for later. The bananas we ate that morning were long gone, so before leaving the Land we stopped at Sunshine Seasons and bought a muffin to share, along with two cups of ice water. Total bill with tax came to $2.76.

By now extra magic hour was over and the rest of the park was open. We headed over to the Imagination area. For some reason, we totally missed this area during our first trip. First we did Journey into the Imagination with Figment, which was okay. Neither of us can figure out what the fuss over Figment is all about. He didn’t seem particularly endearing to either of us. Next we saw Honey I Shrunk the Audience. This is the same show as Disneyland but seems to be better attended here in Florida. There was quite a crowd by the time we entered the theater. We both enjoy this show, but again, you get us in a dark theater in a comfortable seat and the eyes just want to close.

It was getting close to the time when we planned to return to the resort for a rest so we decided to use our two sets of FastPasses for Soarin’ and then head out. Even with a FastPass we waited 15 minutes to ride. We decided not to use our second set of FastPasses, but instead looked for someone to give them to. There was a couple that was heading towards the standby line but when they saw that 80 minute wait time they turned around to leave. You could see the disappointment on their faces. Jason and I caught up to them and offered them our FastPasses. The husband was a little hesitant and asked when the return time was. When we explained that they could use them right now, they were very happy.

Before returning to the resort, we made a quick trip to the nearby Publix where we picked up a loaf of bread, a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter and a bunch of bananas. This will be our breakfast for the next week.

Back at the Pop Century, we stopped in at the Food Court to get some lunch. Jason had the meatball sub sandwich again and a cupcake; I had the personal pepperoni pizza and a Mickey Premium Ice Cream Bar. The total came to $15.99 with tax and our Tables in Wonderland discount.

We took the food back to my room. I put the Mickey bar in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator so it wouldn’t melt and we watched a bit of the Santa Claus 2 while we ate. After lunch, Jason went to his room but came right back to tell me that our Mousekeeper had left him a towel snowman. Jason mentioned that he had written her a note that morning thanking her for the wreath. I had put a thank you on the envelope that held her tip for the day.

After Jason went to his room, I iced my knees with the ice packs I kept in the freezer and then napped for awhile. When I woke up I texted Jason that he could come over if he wanted. We sure miss the convenience of connecting rooms. We really liked just opening the door between the rooms when we were ready.

There was still time before we had to leave for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party so I worked on updating the trip report for a bit on the laptop. At 4:55 we headed out the door. The drive was an easy one, but parking was a nightmare. I have a disabled parking permit and there just wasn’t anything available in the disabled parking area. It took a full 20 minutes of circling around until we found a place to park. It would probably have been better to just park in the regular parking area and taken the tram. Instead of taking the monorail we decided to take the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. There were only a few people waiting and the ferry arrived very soon after we joined the line. Since this was our first time on the ferry, we were unsure of where the best spot to sit was, so we ended up moving all over the place. It was a very peaceful ride and hopefully we’ll be able to do this again.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom and made it through the bag check. Jason was ahead of me in line at the turnstiles and put in his party ticket in without incident. However, when I put my ticket it for some reason it didn’t register. The cast member tried it a few times, and said that there wasn’t any data on the card. I was panicky because I had the receipt back in the room and didn’t think to bring it with me. He suggested I go over to Guest Relations to see if they could help me out. Jason was wondering why I didn’t follow in behind him so I explained what happened. I walked the short distance to Guest Relations while Jason waited on the other side of the gate nearby. The cast member scanned my ticket and was able to read all the data on it and wasn’t sure why I was having problems. Feeling a little better, I went to a different turnstile and was able to get in without any problems. I was so relieved.

We picked up our wristbands and a guide to the party activities. Our focus for the evening was to do all the special events that were planned for the party. Riding attractions was secondary. From listening to the WDWToday podcast, I knew exactly what to do first. While admiring the Christmas lights and decorations, we walked down Main Street and over to Tomorrowland. First on the agenda was Mickey’s “Twas the Night Before Christmas” Show at the Galaxy Palace Theater. The first show was at 7:00 PM but by the time we arrived at around 6:15 there were already many people waiting in line. We joined the line and soon, because there was no show going on before us, we were able to go right into the theater and be seated. We found seats about four rows from the front. The show was fun and we both enjoyed it.

Next we stopped for hot chocolate and cookies before continuing on to the hub to see the Celebrate the Season show performed at the castle forecourt stage. Here’s a pet peeve of mine: I’m five foot tall, so I’m used to everyone around me being taller and always having a difficult time seeing in crowds. I don’t understand why parents think it’s okay to lift their kids up on their shoulders. It totally blocks the view of everyone behind them. I understand that they want their kid to see what’s going on, but couldn’t they just hold their child in their arms so the kid is at the same level as the parent? Okay, rant over. So because of that, I could hear the show, but I didn’t really get to see much of it. It seemed very similar to the show we just saw. I was still having a good time though.

After Celebrate the Season was over, we really had to rush to the next thing, which was Belle’s Enchanted Christmas at Belle’s Fairytale Garden. We had no idea where this was, but we knew that it was difficult getting through the crowd around the hub because everyone was staying put for the first parade. So I decided it would be a good idea to go around the castle view Liberty Square and approach Belle from the opposite side. Big mistake, it was way out of the way and took way too long. I don’t know what I was thinking. Anyway we arrived at Belle’s Fairytale Garden late, the place was packed and they weren’t letting anyone in the area. We decided to skip Belle. Instead we picked up apple juice and cookies then rode the TTA.

From the TTA we saw that Space Mountain had a 10 minute wait, so we headed over as soon as we could. Space Mountain at WDW is much different than the one at Disneyland. The feel of it is more like the Matterhorn. It doesn’t seem nearly as fast. It’s also a rougher ride. Jason doesn’t like riding the Matterhorn for that very reason and remembers Space Mountain here at the Magic Kingdom also being painful for him. This time it didn’t seem as rough of a ride. It seemed like there was extra padding on the seats. We both still enjoyed it at lot and had a lot of fun.

After Space Mountain we stopped for refreshments again. Jason had apple juice and I had hot chocolate with our cookies. We’re determined to get our money’s worth in cookies. The first parade was over so we headed over to Liberty Square to find a place to watch the Holiday Wishes. We sat on a brick planter in front of the Liberty Tree Tavern. I know the view is better from Main Street, but it’s nice not to be in an area that isn’t so crowded. Jason picked us up some apple juice and cookies from the Columbia Harbor House to enjoy while we waited. We were both beginning to slosh around from all the liquids.

The fireworks were great. Afterwards, we continued down along Frontierland to find a spot for the Christmas parade. We found a spot on the end of the wooden porch in front of what looked like a candy shop. It was a good spot, there wasn’t room for anyone to plant themselves in front of us and we could sit down while we watched the parade. After the parade we continued into Frontierland and saw that Big Thunder Mountain Railroad had only a 10 minute wait. This is one of my favorite attractions both here and at Disneyland.

On our way back along Main Street I spotted a popcorn vendor and picked up a box of popcorn. Jason ducked into the Diamond Horseshoe for one last round of apple juice and cookies. The only thing left that we wanted to do was shop for the special party merchandise. We decided to check it out at the Emporium on our way out.

We had trouble finding it, but asked a cast member who pointed it out. We both purchased a Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party pin and I also purchased the mug. We’re not pin traders because we really don’t have any pins that we want to part with, but we do like to purchase a few pins on each trip. I thought the mug was a good idea at the time, but I’ve since regretted the purchase. The picture on the mug isn’t that great and it was an expensive mug, $12.00. I may try to sell it on eBay and try to get my money back.

By now we were tired and we joined the crowds of people heading out of the park. The line for the monorail was huge, so we hopped the resort monorail instead. You make a stop at the Contemporary before arriving at the TTC, but it still seemed faster than waiting in the huge line with everyone else.

The drive back to the resort was quick. For the first time we managed to find our way back without getting lost and hauling out the GPS. By the time I unwound and got to sleep it was 2:00 AM.

Highlights: enjoying all the activities of Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and eating $50 in cookies and hot chocolate

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 20,713
Miles: 6.53

Day 7 – December 10, 2008

Plan: Breakfast at Kona Café, Visit the Deluxe Resorts to see the Christmas Decorations

Actual:

Today was to be our non-parks day. Since we were up so late the night before, I had planned a leisurely breakfast at Kona Café followed by a day of visiting all the deluxe resorts to check out their Christmas decorations. I was up by 7:30 AM and just hung out in the room, transferring pictures from my camera’s memory cards to the laptop and working a little bit on the trip report.

At around nine o’clock we left the resort and drove over to the Poly. We planned to eat breakfast and then take the monorail around to visit the other resorts. This was our first time inside the Poly. In fact, other than Pop, the only resort we had ever visited was the Contemporary three years before when we had dinner at the California Grill. We looked around the lobby enjoying the beautifully decorated Christmas tree near the entrance and the waterfall and plants in the center of the room. Since we had no idea where the Kona Café was located, we decided to find it before spending any more time looking around. Fortunately, we discovered that it was just upstairs. The whole front of the café was open, with a railing separating it from the rest of the area. We were hoping we wouldn’t be seated along the railing because there were a lot of people waiting for tables and it seemed like it would be awkward having everyone look at us while we ate.
A second Christmas tree stood near the door leading outside to the Monorail station. On tables were a number of gingerbread houses created by cast members. They did a great job and it was fun to see their work and take pictures of everything.

Even though we were still early for our ADR, we decided to check in anyway, just in case they were able to seat us ahead of time. We were given a pager and decided to check out the gift shop just across the way. Within a few minutes the pager went off. We were seated at a table towards the back of the room, away from the railing. Our server came over promptly to take our beverage orders. He wasn’t rude, but didn’t smile; he just was doing his job. Fortunately, the only interaction with him was when he took our order and then when he gave us the check.

This was one of the few times we broke our rule about not ordering a beverage with our meal. We both wanted to try the Kona blend coffee. The nice thing was that it was brought to our table in a carafe so we could refill it as needed and not have to depend on someone else to remember refill our cups. The coffee was very good and better than the Nescafe they seem to serve everywhere else.

I’d heard people rave about the Tonga Toast so of course we had to try it. The Pineapple Macadamia Nut Pancakes also looked good so we decided to order one of each and split them so we could try some of each. Both were excellent. I wasn’t sure if I would like warm, cooked bananas but it was surprisingly tasty. The Tonga Toast was served with strawberry puree. The Pineapple Macadamia Nut pancakes were served with warm maple syrup, but neither of us chose to use it. We didn’t want anything to overpower the taste of the crushed pineapple and macadamia nut butter on top. So far on the trip I’ve been trying to take pictures of everything we ate, but I must have been weak from hunger because we were halfway through the meal before I realized that I hadn’t take any pictures. We enjoyed the meal so much that we are going to try to come back again before the end of our trip. The total bill with tax, tip and TIW discount came to $27.21.

After breakfast it was just a matter of stepping out of the restaurant and out the door to the monorail station. It was so close and convenient. If I ever have the opportunity to stay at a deluxe resort, I think I’d like to stay at the Polynesian.

Our next stop was the Grand Floridian. We stepped off the monorail and walked into the second level of the five story lobby. It was amazing as was the huge Christmas tree in the center of the lobby. We could see the life-sized gingerbread house that we’d watch them build on the Food Network special. After taking pictures from upstairs, we wandered downstairs for a closer look. The detail on the gingerbread house was indescribable. We decided to purchase a couple of the shingles that they were selling from inside the gingerbread house. They were expensive at $7.00 each, but it seemed like the thing to do.

After looking around for awhile, we went outside to the beach area then came back in and browsed through the gift shop before boarding the monorail to continue our journey. This time the monorail was fairly crowded since there were people from the Poly and Grand Floridian heading over to the Magic Kingdom.

Everyone except us got off the monorail at the Magic Kingdom. We continued on one more stop to the Contemporary Resort. I’d love to stay here too, but only if I could be in the main building with the super convenient access to the monorail. We looked around and admired the Pinocchio display made out of chocolate and took plenty of pictures. We looked through the gift shop and saw some things that we were interested in. We’re trying to save all our shopping for the World of Disney store where we can get a 10% discount with our Disney Visa card. Also, we may want to have everything shipped home rather than try to fit it into our luggage so it seemed cost effective to group our purchases together. We made notes of the items we were interested in so we wouldn’t forget later.

We boarded the monorail again and took it back to the Poly. We had planned to relax at the resort during the afternoon and then visit the Epcot resorts in the evening. However, we realized that we really didn’t want to visit them in the dark, so we decided to postpone it until Saturday when we’ll be at the Beach & Yacht Club for the Mega Mouse Meet.

Back at the Poly we hopped in the car and headed back to Pop. On the way we saw signs for the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort and decided to stop by and check it out. I’d already decided that if I ever stay at a Moderate it would be POFQ. The parking lot in front of the resort wasn’t very full, so we were able to park fairly close. As we walked towards the building we noted that the bus stops were right there, very close and convenient.

Inside we admired the Christmas tree and the fountain in the lobby. We stopped in at the food court. It was much smaller than Pop but the resort is about 1/3 the size of Pop. I’d wanted to try to beignets, so we ordered three of them to share. They were hot and delicious, but messy. There was powdered sugar all over the table by the time we were done. The total cost was $2.55 with tax and Tables in Wonderland discount.

Afterwards, we walked around the resort for awhile checking everything out. We noted for future reference that building 4 was the closest to the food court and bus stops. It was very quiet and peaceful. The theming was understated compared to the “in your face” theming of Pop. We wandered down to the river and saw the boats that travel to Downtown Disney. I was very pleased with the resort and would love to be able to stay here sometime in the future.

Back at Pop we looked around in the gift shop and I picked up some postcards to send to family. We refilled our mugs and were disappointed to see that the frozen coke machine was out of service.

Even though it was early afternoon, our rooms hadn’t been cleaned yet. I’d been in my room for about two minutes when our Mousekeeper knocked on my door. I quickly grabbed my purse and mug and went next door to Jason’s room to wait for her to finish. We had planned to do laundry about halfway through the trip and today seemed like a good day to do it. Jason got his laundry together and as soon as my room was ready we went over to get my laundry. When I walked up to my room I was surprised to see a towel Christmas tree in the window! She really outdid herself.

The laundry room was conveniently located next to the bowling pin pool. There were a couple of people just finishing up their laundry, but there were plenty of empty machines. We loaded up two of the washers and plunked in $2.00 per machine to wash. I had brought a travel size laundry detergent, but forgot to bring fabric softener. I plunked down $1.00 a piece for two packages of Downey.

While the laundry was washing, we sat outside at a table near the pool. I had a book and Jason had his game system. It was very warm in the sun. There’s a storm heading our way and it was making it very humid out. It wasn’t long before we couldn’t stand it any longer so we went into the laundry room where it was air-conditioned. The dryers were also $2.00 each for 30 minutes. I wondered how many $2.00 I would have to plunk down before the laundry was dry. Luckily, a woman removed her laundry and there was still time left on the two dryers she used so I split my laundry up among four dryers to hopefully dry things faster.

Once everything was folded, we returned to our rooms and relaxed for a while. I napped and updated the trip report. Around 6:50 Jason came over. We reviewed the schedule for the rest of the trip and decided to try to another ADR for Kona Café the next day. It was really the only time we could fit it in. I called Disney Dining and was able to get in at 10:30 AM tomorrow. Afterwards, we walked over to Everything Pop for dinner. The Mom’s Night Out special was a turkey dinner with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a corn muffin. We each chose that, although in hindsight we could easily have shared one of the meals. Jason had the carrot cake and I had the cheesecake. The total came to $21.44 with tax and Tables in Wonderland discount. We refilled our mugs, this time with light lemonade and took our food back to the room. When we were part way through our meal, we realized that once again we forgot to take pictures of the food. I considered going back to the food court and hanging around until someone else ordered the turkey dinner, then asking them if I could take a picture of it. But I decided against it.

We watched a couple of sitcoms on TV and at nine o’clock Jason said goodnight. I got ready for bed, and then stepped outside to watch Illuminations before going to sleep. It was a very relaxing day and just what we needed to recharge our batteries for the rest of the trip.

Highlights: Breakfast at the Kona Café, seeing all the awesome decorations at the monorail resorts, finding out the Port Orleans French Quarter is a great as people say it is.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 11,359
Miles: 3.58

Day 8 – Thursday, December 11, 2008

Plan: Magic Kingdom, Kona Cafe, MouseFest 101 & Kickoff Reception at Contemporary

Actual:

Today is the start of MouseFest. When planning the dates for our trip, I made sure MouseFest would fit right in during the trip. I was looking forward to meeting all my favorite podcasters, authors, and other Disney fans. Since it was morning extra magic hours at the Magic Kingdom, I was up at 5:45 AM. Armed with my MouseFest Pocket Guide and wearing my MouseFest lanyard, I stepped outside at 7:15 AM and was greeted with a blast of warm, humid air, most likely due from the storm expected to pass through today. Fortunately, according to weather reports it should cool down tomorrow.

We made excellent time to the Magic Kingdom and within 30 minutes of leaving the room we arrived at the turnstiles. The skies were grey and cloudy, but there still wasn’t any rain. After parking opening, we immediately headed down Main Street to Fantasyland where were rode Peter Plan, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and the Tea Cups in rapid succession with little wait time. The Mad Hatter and Alice were riding the tea cups when we arrived.

Next we moved on to Tomorrowland where we did Buzz Lightyear and Stitch’s Great Escape, also with little wait. When we emerged from Stitch, it was sprinkling lightly. We decided to ride the TTA next and by the time we were through it was raining a little harder. We ducked through shops and stayed close to buildings in an attempt to stay dry as we made our way to Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

By now it was pouring and time to head over to the Poly for our breakfast ADR at Kona Café. A lot of people were leaving the park and few people were entering. We hopped on the Resort Monorail and in no time we were at the Poly. Once again we appreciated the location of the monorail as we were able to stay undercover and dry.

Breakfast at the Kona Café was just as good today as it was yesterday. This time we had an awesome server named Gary P. He was funny, very friendly and attentive. We remembered to take pictures of our food before we started eating.

After breakfast, it was time to head over to the Contemporary for MouseFest 101. We boarded the monorail and made the loop around to the Contemporary. MouseFest 101 was being held in the Nutcracker Ballroom but we had no idea where that was. Fortunately, we spotted two women wearing familiar yellow MouseFest lanyards who looked as lost as we did. We teamed up with them and eventually found our way.

There was a large crowd waiting to enter the room, way more people than they expected. By the time we got in, all the chairs were filled so we ended up sitting on the floor in the front of the room. Mike Scopa and Mark Goldhaber led through how to get the most out of MouseFest. Afterwards, we went up to introduce ourselves to Mike Scopa, who gave us each a Scopa Towers pin for staying at his favorite resort, the Pop Century.

The MouseFest Kickoff Reception was held in the same room and I had a great time meeting many of the people that I had grown to know and love through the various Disney podcasts, websites and books. It’s because of all their knowledge, hard work and dedication that our vacation turned out to be such an amazing one. Everyone was super friendly and very graciously posed for pictures.

After the reception was over, we took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. By now the rain had stopped completed and the sun was out. We still had time before our first meet, which was Mike Scopa’s Dole Whip Meet, so we decided to hop on the Jungle Cruise. It was a walk on, no wait at all. The rain must have scared many people away because the park was empty. We had a few minutes before 3:00 PM so we decided to ride Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. Again, there was no wait.

This was our first time ever riding Aladdin’s Magic Carpets. It was fun, but I wouldn’t wait in any kind of line for it. Afterwards, we headed over to Aloha Isle to get our Dole Whips for the meet. We both ordered the pineapple floats and they were delicious. The total came to $8.50. We enjoyed our floats and hanging around with other MouseFesters. The only drawback was the smoking section right nearby. It seems like there are a lot more smoking areas in WDW than there are in Disneyland.

After the Dole Whip Meet was over, we checked the wait time board at the hub. Many of the attractions had very short wait times posted. We didn’t know what to do first. We decided on Space Mountain, which had a 10 minute posted wait. Actually, it was a walk on. We walked all the way to the loading area and were seated on the next vehicle.

Next we did the TTA, which was also a walk on, but that’s not unusual. From the TTA we could see that Buzz had a 5 minute wait so we headed there next. We still feel hindered by the fact that you can’t take the guns out of the holster like you can at Disneyland. Neither of us did very well.

We had stayed around Tomorrowland because our next meet was the Photography 101 meet led by Tim Devine from the Magic in Pixels. We met at the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station. There was quite a crowd, probably around 30 people. We learned the basic of photography, camera modes, and some rules of composition. It was very informative and Tim did an excellent job of explaining things so everyone understood. However, looking at all the professional cameras that everyone else had made me want to toss my little point and shoot camera over the railing, along with every lousy picture I’ve ever taken. Tim had me pegged when he said that many people are so focused on the object of their photo that they don’t notice what’s in the rest of the frame. As a result, you get trees growing out of tops of people’s heads and things like that. Thanks to Tim, I’m trying to be more aware of everything that’s in the picture and hopefully will get better pictures in the future.

After the meet was over, we walked over to Liberty Square. The Haunted Mansion was a walk on so we did that. It had been a long time since breakfast, so we walked over to Peco’s Bills and ordered a BBQ Pork Sandwich with Fries and two ice waters. We split the sandwich and fries and were completely satisfied. The total bill came to $8.09 with tax.

Magic Kingdom was closing early for MVMCP. It was 6:35 PM by the time we finished eating. We had done everything we wanted to and decided to leave before the mass exodus occurred at 7:00 PM. Back at Pop we stopped at Everything Pop to refill our mugs and get a snack for later. I had a Mickey Premium Bar and Jason had his favorite cupcake.

Highlights: Eating breakfast at the Kona Café again, with Gary P. as our server; being a part of MouseFest and meeting everyone; having no crowds at the Magic Kingdom and being able to walk on the rides.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 18,583
Miles: 5.86

Day 9 – Friday, December 12, 2008

Plan: Epcot’s Future World in the Morning; Yuletide Fantasy Tour in the Afternoon; World Showcase and VIP Illuminations Dessert Party in the Evening

Actual:

We decided to skip Future World this morning and start our tour of the World Showcase instead. We hung out in the room while I worked on the trip report for awhile. At 10:00 AM we left Pop and drove over to Epcot. We were going to start with Canada this time, since on our first trip we started in Mexico and only made it to Japan before we ran out of time. We had about 15 minutes until World Showcase opened so we sat on a bench and waited until 11:00 AM.

As soon as Canada opened, we walked through the beautiful gardens by Le Cellier (I so want to eat here someday) and continued on to the O Canada film. When I stopped to take a picture before going inside, the nice cast member there offered to take my picture in front of the building. The 360 degree film was interesting and we both enjoyed it. After, we browsed through the shops before moving on to the next pavilion. One of the things on my list of must do’s was to see Off Kilter. Unfortunately, their first show wasn’t until later on so we’ll have to come back another time to see them.

Next was the UK pavilion. When we arrived, the improv group was in the middle of their show. We watched the rest of the show then looked through all the shops.

Next was France. We caught the last bit of the holiday storyteller, Pere Noel. He hung around for a while for pictures. I tried to snap a picture in between guests so I could get just him in the shot. Unfortunately, as soon as one person stepped away from him, the photographer for the next group would step right in front of me to line up their shot. I don’t blame them in the least since they’d waited their turn in line for the picture.

We were starving at this point, so we stopped in at the Boulangerie Patisserie for something to snack on. The line was long. Once inside the line splits into two sides, with each side containing the same items. We were overwhelmed by the sight of so many delicious looking desserts. I think this was the start of beautiful relationship. We had trouble deciding so we ended up with a Napolean, and Apple Tart and a chocolate chip cookie. The cookie was in honor of Sue Holland, whose trip reports I absolutely love reading. We also ordered two cups of ice water. The total bill came to $10.44. All the tables outside were taken and we didn’t notice the additional seating inside the nearby shop. We took everything over to a quiet area on the other side of the pavilion and sat on a concrete planter area. We divided everything in half and enjoyed our snack. We’ll be coming back several times before the end of our trip!

Next, we looked through the rest of the shops in France. We were going to see the movie, Impressions de France, but realized that we needed to head to the front of the park to meet our group for the Yuletide Fantasy Tour. The voice mail we’d received from the Disney Institute the day before said we needed to meet in front of the Guest Relations area at 1:00 PM and it was 12:35 PM now. I wanted to reduce the amount of walking I had to do since we’d be walking a lot on the tour, so I suggested we take a Friendship boat to the other side of the lagoon. At least it would eliminate some of the walking. We got in line at the dock and could see the boat on its way over to us. After a few more minutes I started to have doubts that we’d make it in time if we waited for the boat so we decided to walk.

This ended up being a wise decision. By the time we reached Future World the boat still hadn’t made its way over to other side. We walked briskly through Future World and arrived at the tour waiting area right at 1:00 PM. There was an area in front of the Guest Relations area marked for tour guests so we waited there. It wasn’t until around 1:15 PM that a cast member came over to the group. I guess they just wanted to make sure we arrived on time.

Our tour guides for the Yuletide Fantasy Tour were Mike and Monica. They were assisted by Johnny, Jeff and Jean. Jerry was our bus driver. Johnny, Jeff and Jean went around and checked our ID’s, gave us name tags and handed out the radios and earpieces. After giving us the opportunity to use the restroom, we exited through a gate near the Guest Relations area and boarded a bus. We were reminded that while we were backstage we were not allowed to take pictures, but if we were in the guest areas we could take as many pictures as we wanted.

After exited the parking lot, we drove around to Epcot’s backstage entrance. Before allowing us to proceed, a security guard came onto the bus and did a quick bag check. Once it was determined that no one was carrying any contraband, we drove through the backstage area while Mike and Monica shared with us the history of mistletoe. As we drove we could see the outside loop of Test Track and what looked like the globe from Illuminations. It was hard to concentrate on what they were saying as I was trying to see as much as I could of this area. Finally, we came to stop in a parking area behind the World Showcase. Before leaving the bus, we were divided into two groups. Half the group would go with Mike while the rest of the group would go with Monica. Jason and I were with Monica’s group. We walked past some cast members taking their break at a small table outside and entered the World Showcase near Germany.

As we walked through Germany, Monica shared with us how the tradition of the Christmas tree and ornaments originated in Germany. After she finished talking, she asked if anyone had any questions. No one did so we moved on to Italy where she shared the legend of La Befana. Again she asked if anyone had any questions, and no one did. We continued on to America, where we learned about Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Monica talked about the Candlelight Processional. One of the members of our group, John, was a cast member and a part of the processional this year. Once again, Monica asked if we had any questions and again no one did.

Our last stop in the World Showcase was Japan. Monica explained that they do not celebrate Christmas in Japan, and talked about the tradition of Daruma dolls. The dolls are traditionally given to someone at the start of the New Year. They are round in shape with a weighted bottom, and the eyes are not filled in. Upon receiving the doll, the person fills in one of the eyes and makes a wish. When the wish is granted, the other eye is filled in and the doll is burned in the temple.

For some reason these dolls sparked a great deal of lively conversation among the tour group. People were asking Monica very specific questions about these dolls and how the whole process worked. It was a little strange, since up until now, it was like pulling teeth to get anyone to speak up.

As we moved away from Japan and back to the bus, Jason nudged me and asked if one of the members of the tour group looked familiar to me. I glanced over at the man he was referring to and yes he did look familiar, but I couldn’t quite place him. Jason’s first thought was that it was someone from the Food Network. After further racking our brains we figured out that it probably was someone we’d seen on a Food Network Challenge. We weren’t exactly sure if he had been a contestant or a judge. A week later when I had internet access again, I looked him up and learned that it was Nicholas Lodge, who was a judge on several of the pastry and sugar arts Challenges.

Our next stop was the backstage area of Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Once again a security guard boarded the bus and searched our bags before allowing us to enter. We entered the park near the Backlot Tour area. We walked over to the Osborne Lights and learned about the history behind the magnificent light display. We also learned some trivia about the movie, Miracle on 34th Street. The movie was released in May and the trailers contained no indication that it was about Christmas because the studio felt that the market for Christmas movies was already saturated. We also learned that when approached by the studio for permission to have them depicted in the movie, Macy’s and Gimbel’s both wanted to see the finished product before giving their approval. If either store had refused, the movie wouldn’t have been able to be released. Fortunately, both businesses were pleased with the story and gave their permission.

Back on the bus, we were urged to share our own holiday traditions and led in a round of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” In a short time we pulled up to the front of the Grand Floridian Resort. As we entered the lobby, we learned that Walt Disney World uses poinsettias in four different colors of red, called “Freedom,” “Early Prestige,” “Advent,” and “Enduring Pink.” We took a look at the Gingerbread House and then were ushered back outside. We lost a large portion of our group as they began handing out free samples of gingerbread just as we were leaving the lobby. Before boarding the bus, Monica offered us each a little treat, a piece of candy.

As we made our way to the next stop, Mike and Monica explained how songs were often used to help teach children the tenets of their faith, especially in times of persecution when it was dangerous to be teaching about religion. For example, the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” was written as a way to teach Catholic children about their faith. Monica led us in singing, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Fortunately, we started at “…five golden rings.”

The next stop was the Holiday Services warehouse, where all the decorations for the theme parks, water parks, DVC store, cruise line, Vero Beach, Castaway Cay and all the resorts were stored. It was a large 60,000 square foot warehouse. We were each given a pair of safety glasses that we would need to put on later when we entered the workshop area. As we walked through the warehouse we could see that the shelves were mostly empty since the decorations were out on display. Everything was meticulously labeled and organized. We passed by the shelves where the Pop Century decorations were stored. In the back there were shelves with boxes labeled with things like, “animals” or “extra hands.” There were bins filled with huge ornaments in every color. We learned that cast members spend all year getting things ready for the holiday season and that it takes around 150 truckloads to get everything out to its designated location.

Our last stop was the Magic Kingdom. The bus parked in the back behind Exposition Hall and we entered Main Street near Tony’s Town Square Restaurant. We all looked at the big Christmas tree in town square and then moved along Main Street while we learned, among other things, that when deciding to put the lights on the castle, it was important that they be invisible as possible so that people are able to take pictures during the day and have it look the same as it always does.

Midway down the street we exited to the backstage area and returned to the bus. We took the short drive back to Epcot where we ended the tour. Mike and Monica handed out pins as we left the bus. The pins are only available to tour participants and Mike warned us that he’d be checking eBay later on. It was 5:30 PM by the time the tour ended and it was getting a little chilly. Fortunately, our car was parked within sight of where we ended the tour so we walked over to drop off our pins and get our jackets.

We entered Epcot and stopped at the Art of Disney store to look around. There were some beautiful pieces and I wished I had the money to buy them. We were both hungry so we walked over to the Electric Umbrella for dinner. As we looked over the menu we were trying to decide if we wanted to share something or get our own meal. Jason asked me what I’d be ordering and I said I thought the grilled chicken breast sandwich sounded good. He said he was thinking of getting the same thing. Because of that, we decided to share. If we’d each wanted something different, we’d have ordered our own meal. The lines were huge. I waited in line with Jason until he ordered. The cast member who took our order was a rather surly guy (curmudgeonly comes to mind). Customer service is probably not the best career choice for him. After we ordered, Jason waited for the food while I went to fill up containers with ketchup and picked up napkins. The inside seating area was packed so we headed outside. It was cool outside so there were fewer people. We were comfortable enough though with our jackets. We split the chicken sandwich and fries and each had a cup of ice water. While we ate we enjoyed people watching and listening to the Christmas background music. The total bill came to $7.66.

After dinner we went over to Club Cool for the first time and had fun trying out the different kinds of sodas from around the world, even Beverly. We both agreed that it is the nastiest tasting drink we’d ever had. The floor was incredibly sticky.

Next we went to Innoventions looking for the new Storm Struck show. We didn’t see it so we figured it was in the other building. We checked out the Velcro exhibit first before walking over to the other side. Storm Struck was right near the entrance and we went to get in line. There were only a couple of people waiting. The Cast Member said it would be eleven minutes until the next show so we must have just missed it. If only we hadn’t stopped to play with the Velcro. Instead of standing in line we decided to go sit in the chairs that were grouped out in front of the exhibit. From there we could keep an eye on the line and if it looked like a lot of people were lining up we could go over and join them. When it was time to enter the theatre, there were a few more people in line, but nowhere near capacity. Storm Struck was interesting. It was a little hard to see with the 3-D glasses. It might have been the angle from where we were sitting, but we both enjoyed it. When the show ended it was 7:00pm and Innoventions was closing for the evening.

Our plan was to continue on with our tour of the World Showcase, but we didn’t want to do it in the dark. It makes it hard to take good pictures. We were supposed to meet at the International Gateway at 8:45 PM for the VIP Illuminations Dessert Party hosted by MouseFan Travel. We decided to find a spot to sit and wait until it was time to check in. The only place nearby to sit was across from the smoking section. Still it felt good to sit down. It was getting much colder and we were glad that we had thought to bring our jackets with us.

At 8:35 PM we wandered over to the International Gateway and about 10 minutes later they started checking everyone in. After we received our VIP badges we waited for another 10 minutes and then were escorted to the party site by a Cast Member with a lighted wand. The viewing area was located along the lagoon near the Fish & Chips place in the UK. There were two levels, with tables and chairs on the upper level and benches along the railing on the lower level. There were identical buffet tables on each level, serving a variety of desserts including oatmeal raisin cookies, sugar cookies, chewy crisped rice treats, double chocolate brownies (my favorite), chocolate chunk cookies, and chocolate peanut butter marshmallow squares (Jason’s favorite). On the upper level a cast member served hot beverages.

After filling our plates and getting a cup of hot coffee, we found a place to sit at a table on the upper level. The time past quickly as we chatted with other people and munched on the treats until Illuminations began.

Our view was excellent and the show was amazing. It was nice to be able to sit comfortably and watch. We’ve only seen Illuminations once before, during our 2005 trip. At that time we were right against the wall over in Italy. While we had a good enough view, there were so many people pressed right up against us that it was a little uncomfortable. I usually get dinner and movie before I let someone get that intimate with me.

After Illuminations ended we thanked our hosts and headed back to Pop, stopping to refill our mugs before returning to our rooms. We spent a few minutes reviewing our plans for the next day before saying goodnight.

Highlights: First visit to the bakery in France; touring the holiday services warehouse; getting VIP treatment at the Illuminations Dessert Party.

Pedometer Stats:
Steps: 21,169
Miles: 6.68

Day 10 – Saturday, December 13, 2008

Plan: Extra Magic Hour at the Studios in the Morning, Mega Mouse Meet at the Yacht & Beach Club; Epcot in the Afternoon/Evening

Actual:
I was up 5:45 AM and we left for the Studios at 7:30 AM. It was a quick drive and we arrived early enough to get a very close parking spot. At rope drop the plan was for Jason to forge ahead and get us FastPasses for Toy Story Mania while I followed behind at my slower pace. Instead, Jason was sidetracked by all the characters that were out in front of the Sorcerer’s Hat so we ended up walking together all the way. I wanted to be able to ride more than once, so we were going to get FastPasses and then go through the standby line. However, the ride was experiencing technical difficulties and wasn’t open. Still a lot of people were waiting in the standby line. We decided to wait in line for 10 minutes and if the ride still wasn’t open, we’d move on to something else. We only lasted five minutes before getting out of line and going over to Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.

Rock ‘n Roller Coaster was also down so we turned around headed back up Sunset Blvd, stopping to have a PhotoPass photographer take our picture in front of the Tower of Terror. We were both hungry so we stopped at Starring Rolls Café where we ordered a chocolate croissant and a cinnamon roll and two cups of ice water. The total bill came to $6.16.

After breakfast, we checked the wait time board and saw that Toy Story Mania was open. It was still too early to use our FastPasses, but the standby time was 45 minutes. Rock ‘n Roller Coaster was still down but we decided to see if we could get a FastPass. When Jason got our FastPasses for Toy Story Mania earlier there were problems with the FastPass Machine. A cast member handed him a couple of FastPasses, but not before he’d already inserted one of our tickets into the machine. The machine did give him a FastPass so he handed one of other FastPasses back to the Cast Member. We weren’t sure whose ticket he used to get the FastPass and decided to give them both a try at the FastPass machine for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster.

We worked our way down one side of Sunset Blvd., looking in all the shops but not buying anything. When we arrived at Rock ‘n Roller Coaster we learned that it was my ticket that Jason had inserted earlier at Toy Story Mania, so he was able to get a FastPass for Rock ‘n Roller Coaster, but I still had to wait awhile before I was eligible for one. While we were there, we had a PhotoPass photographer take our picture in front of Rock ‘n Roller Coaster. Heading back down Sunset Blvd., we looked through the shops on the other side of the street.

We reached Hollywood Blvd just as the High School Musical 3 show was making its way toward the Sorcerer’s Hat. We stopped to listen and take pictures. At some point we got separated and I couldn’t find Jason anywhere. I tried calling him but the music was so loud that there’s no way he would hear his phone. So, I just found a spot to sit down and when the show was over he called me and we met up.

It was getting close to the point where we needed to leave the park and head over to the Yacht & Beach Club for Mega Mouse Meet so we went to use our FastPasses for Toy Story Mania. This ride is so fun. I really wish the line wasn’t so long as I would have loved to ride it a few more times. We debated getting FastPasses afterwards, but weren’t sure if we would be back later and didn’t want to get them if we weren’t sure.

One our way out of the park we stopped by Beverly Sunset and I bought a piece of fudge for later while Jason bought a chocolate chip cookie. The total cost for the two items was $7.35.

It was around 11:00 AM and getting a little warm out. I didn’t want to leave the fudge in the car, nor did I want to have to carry it around with me, so we dropped the goodies off at Pop before driving over to the Beach Club. The parking lot was pretty full, but we finally found a spot not too far from the conference center.

Mega Mouse Meet was held in the Grand Harbor Ballroom of the Yacht & Beach Club Conference Center. There was a table outside the ballroom where we were welcomed and each given a plastic bag to hold all our MouseFest goodies.

The room was filled with fellow Disney Fans. Our first stop was at the book table we I purchased David Koenig’s, “Mouse Tales” and Steven Barrett’s “WDW Hidden Mickey’s” book. David Koenig was there at the table and very graciously agreed to autograph his book. We had such a good time going from table to table meeting everyone. Many of the booths gave out pins or buttons. I was happy to meet Len Testa from the Unofficial Guide to WDW and the WDW Today podcast. We chatted for a few minutes and I learned that he has a brother that lives in the town right next to us. After autographing my unofficial guide, he and Fred Hazelton (also from the Unofficial Guide) posed for a picture with me.

Other highlights were meeting Steven Barrett, the king of the Hidden Mickeys and Lou Mongello, master of WDW trivia. They both also posed for pictures. Lou is working on a series of audio guidebooks on CD, with Main Street and Adventureland completed. Jason and I purchased both CD’s and transferred them to our iPods. Later, we spent two mornings at the Magic Kingdom following along while with Lou as he shared many, many interesting details about those two areas. We’re looking forward to when he releases more of these guidebooks.

Last, I was able to finally meet in person, Coleen, our travel agent from Mouse Fan Travel. She did such an amazing job with our vacation, rebooking our trips numerous times to get us the best discount, making our ADR’s, and handling all the details.

After we finished checking everything out at the Mega Mouse Meet we planned to check out the Christmas decorations at all the Epcot resorts. We dropped our bags filled with books and pins off at the car and then started with the Beach Club. Next was the Yacht Club and then we took a Friendship Boat to the Boardwalk. All the decorations were amazing. We had planned to eat at Beaches and Cream and I somehow thought it was at the Boardwalk. After walking all over the resort, we learned that it was actually at the Beach Club. We took a Friendship Boat back to the other side of the lagoon and walked around until we found it. When the cast member told us how long the wait was, I thought she said 4-5 minutes, but actually she said 45 minutes. That was longer than we wanted to wait so we decided to eat back at the resort.

On the way back to Pop we decided to drive over to Target to pick up a few things that we needed. On the way we passed a Wal-Mart so we stopped there instead. Fortunately, everything we needed was at the front of the store, so we were only there for a few minutes.

Back at Pop we stopped at Everything Pop to pick up lunch. We decided to get a meatball sub sandwich and an individual cheese pizza and take it back to the room. We ended up splitting everything in half so we could try a little bit of each item. Once again, I forgot to take pictures until after we split everything up, but I took the pictures anyway. I munched on my piece of fudge and Jason ate his cookie while we watched a Christmas movie on Lifetime. Then Jason went back to his room, while I napped for awhile.

We had planned to just hang around the resort for the rest of the evening, but after napping and icing my knees, I got my second wind. I suggested we head over to the Studios to see Fantasmic. Jason was agreeable, so at 6:30 PM we left the resort and drove over.

The entrance was backed up to Buena Vista Drive. We wondered why the entrance was so small and didn’t realize until later that there were actually two entrances to the Studios. The parking lot was very crowded. There were no spots left in the handicapped parking so we wandered up and down some of the aisles until we found a vacant spot. It was way out there and we would have been better off circling around and letting a cast member direct us to a spot and then taken the tram to the park entrance.

Eventually, we were parked and made our way through the turnstiles and over to Fantasmic. They hadn’t started seating yet, so we waited in line for awhile. Once they let us into the theater, we found seats in the dead center of the middle section. The theater wasn’t full by any means. By the time the show started, basically only the middle section was filled.

While we were waiting for Fantasmic to start, I received a text message from my dad. Portland was experiencing some wintery weather with temperatures in the mid-twenties during the day and dropping to the teens at night. There was a chance of some snow that weekend. I was hoping it would be over by the time we had to leave.

I love Fantasmic and was glad we made the effort to go over to see it that evening. I really like that WDW has a theater with seating, and I wish there was someway to do that at Disneyland. I’ve only seen Fantasmic twice at Disneyland. Both times we paid extra for the balcony dessert so we wouldn’t have to stake out a spot hours in advance.

After Fantasmic was over we left the park and returned to Pop. We watched TV for a while and then said goodnight. I was asleep by 10:30 PM.

Highlights: Riding Toy Story Mania again; meeting all the wonderful people at the Mega Mouse Meet; seeing all the amazing Christmas decorations at the Epcot resorts; Fantasmic

Pedometer stats:Steps: 19,086
Miles: 6.02

Day 11 – Sunday, December 14, 2008

Plan: Magic Kingdom in the morning, do the Mini Mouse Adventure; Epcot in the afternoon/evening.

Actual:
I was up at 6:30 AM this morning. Before Jason came over, I transferred the Lou Mongello CD guides to my iTunes so could both put them on our iPods in case we wanted to listen to them today at the Magic Kingdom. However, Jason’s has a newer version iPod that wasn’t compatible with the older version of iTunes on my laptop so we’ll have to wait until he has a chance to load it on the iTunes on his laptop.

We left the room at 7:55 AM and decided to take the bus to the Magic Kingdom to see if it was easier than driving. There was a big crowd at the Magic Kingdom bus stop with no bus in sight and no one at the Epcot bus stop with a waiting empty bus. I had what I thought was brilliant idea and suggested we take the bus to Epcot then take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. There were just a few people on board the bus and it was a very comfortable ride to Epcot.

As soon as we stepped off the bus at Epcot, I realized that this had been a mistake. It was a really, really long walk from the point where the bus dropped us off to the monorail station. We also had to go through the security bag check twice, once at Epcot and again at the Magic Kingdom. This wasn’t too bad as there was no line at the bag check at Epcot. A better alternative would have been to drive to Epcot and then take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. At that time of morning, we would have been able to park very close to the entrance, which is so close to the monorail. Since we were planning to spend the afternoon and evening at Epcot we could have easily taken the monorail back when we were done at the Magic Kingdom. We filed this revelation away for future reference.

It was still fun riding the monorail. Jason and I had been practicing the Spanish portion of the monorail safety spiel all week and we used the opportunity to practice it a few more times.

We arrived at the Magic Kingdom at 8:40 AM, in plenty of time for park opening. The plan was to ride the train to Frontierland and ride Big Thunder Mountain. While we waited for the train to arrive, we realized that we were both very hungry. So, we left the line and walked over to the Main Street Bakery. It was hard to decide what to have so we ended up with an Apple Charlotte, a piece of Crumb Cake and an Apple Turnover. We divided everything in half so we could each try some of everything. We also got our usual free cups of ice water. The total bill came to $9.24 for the three items.

Full and happy, we walked through Liberty Square and Frontierland enjoying the atmosphere and taking numerous photos and video. We picked up FastPasses for Big Thunder and then got into line. The posted standby time was five minutes, but it actually took a lot longer than that. We emerged from the ride at 10:00am, the time we were supposed to meet for the Mini Mouse Adventure. We raced over to Adventureland and arrived just as Mark Goldhaber was going over the instructions and rules. There was quite a good turnout of people. We were given our packets and sent on our way with instructions to be back at around 11:45 AM.

Mini Mouse Adventure was very challenging but we both enjoyed it a lot. Being relatively new to WDW, we weren’t that familiar with everything so we didn’t do very well. Still, it was a lot of fun. The time passed very quickly and before we knew it, it was time to meet back up with everyone to go over the answers. Mark handed out special commemorative pins to all participants.

After the meet was over, we decided to use our FastPasses for Big Thunder before heading over to Epcot. On our way out we stopped at Casey’s Corner for lunch. This was our first time ever eating here and wouldn’t you know it, they had CORN DOG NUGGETS. I had been keeping an eye out for them ever since we discovered that, contrary to what it said in the Park Guide, the Lunching Pad didn’t have them. We ordered one hot dog combo meal with fries, one hotdog by itself, an order of corn dog nuggets, and two cups of ice water. We each had a hot dog and shared the corn dog nuggets and fries. Delicious! The total bill came to $15.20

After lunch we headed towards the front of the park, stopping on Main Street to have a PhotoPass photographer take our picture with the castle and with the Christmas tree. We boarded the Monorail to the TTC, and then transferred to the Epcot Monorail.

Once we entered Epcot we split up. Jason went to get us Fastpasses for Soarin’ and I waited to take the Friendship Boat across the lagoon. I just missed the boat so I had to wait awhile for the next one. We met up at France to continue where we had left off the previous Friday. First up was the film, Impressions de France. Exiting the theatre dumped us right into the gift shop so we looked around for awhile. Then of course we had to make a stop at the bakery. I had the chocolate mousse and Jason had a chocolate chip cookie. The total bill came to $5.97.

Next we explored Morocco taking pictures and browsing through the shops before moving on to China. We looked around for a while and then moved on to the America Pavilion. We wanted to be sure to catch the Voices of Liberty so we found a bench and waited for the next performance. While we waited a woman came out and talked about Hanukkah.

After the Voices of Liberty performance, which was great, we decided to head back to the resort. We were both really tired. A Friendship Boat was just getting ready to pull up to the dock so I decided to take it back across the lagoon. Jason wanted to walk so we decided to meet up at Spaceship Earth.

Once we met up again, we walked out of Epcot and over to the bus stop. It was a long walk to the stop for Pop. Once again we reminded ourselves that if we do this again we should drive to Epcot and then taken the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.

Fortunately, the bus for Pop was waiting when we arrived and there were only four people on board. Three more people boarded shortly after us and we were on our way.

We both were hungry so we stopped at Everything Pop for dinner. We decided to split the Mom’s Night Out special, which tonight was the Fried Chicken Dinner. This included two pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with onion, and a corn muffin. Jason chose a white cupcake for dessert and I chose a chocolate one. At the register Jason spotted a pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie that for some reason he became very excited about. I didn’t really understand why, it didn’t look particularly appetizing to me. He added that to our tray and I added a Mickey dark chocolate bar. The total bill came to $17.23.

We took the food back to the room to eat. I did remember to take pictures of the food before we started eating. Even splitting the meal, we were both full enough when we finished. We decided to save the cupcakes for later on that evening.

After eating, Jason returned to his room for a while. I took a long, hot bath, charged all the electronic devices, and transferred the day’s pictures to the laptop. We regrouped at 7:45 PM for dessert and watched The Santa Clause 2 on TV.

We both were very tired and found ourselves nodding off at 8:30 PM. So, Jason said goodnight and went to his room. I tried to stay awake to watch Illuminations, but ended up calling it a night at 8:55 PM.

Highlights: Mini Mouse Adventure; discovering corn dog nuggets, hearing the Voices of Liberty perform

Pedometer stats:
Steps: 20,165
Miles: 6.36

Day 12 – Monday, December 15, 2008

Plan: Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom in the morning; Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the afternoon/evening

Actual:

It was another early morning. The wake-up call came at 5:45 AM. We left the resort at 7:20 AM and drove to Animal Kingdom. At park opening Jason went to get us FastPasses for Expedition Everest while I walked to Kilimanjaro Safaris. I had a few minutes to wait and the cast member working as a greeter chatted with me until he arrived. She was very friendly. I have to say that the cast members at Animal Kingdom were among the friendliest that we encountered during our trip.

The posted wait time for Kilimanjaro Safaris was 20 minutes, but actually it was only 5. This was our third safari and it was the absolute best. So many animals were out eating breakfast. This is definitely the best time of day to do this attraction. In the distance we saw the baby giraffe running at breakneck speed across the terrain. Later, when we got closer we could see the baby being nuzzled by his dad. It was a great Kodak moment.

After the safari, we stopped and looked through one of the shops. I purchased a Safari Minnie and Jason bought a Safari Mickey. We had them sent back to our resort, the first time either of us had done that. We walked by Kali River Rapids. We really enjoy Grizzly River Run in California and wanted to ride Kali, but neither of us felt like getting soaked so we passed it up.

Our FastPass window for Expedition Everest had opened up so we headed over that direction. Jason really wanted to ride, but I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. I was so nervous about it that I started to get shaky and lightheaded just walking through the FastPass queue. There was no line, which was probably a good thing as I would have certainly talked myself out of this if there had been any kind of wait. As it was, there was a 50/50 chance that I would have ditched Jason before we stepped into the train and headed for a chicken exit.

I knew that for me, the worst part of the ride was the backwards part. If I could get through that, I knew I could just enjoy the rest of the ride. Fortunately, that happens fairly early on. This time, when we started to go backwards, I just turned my head around and faced the back of the train. This seemed to help reduce the feeling of disorientation that I experienced.

Having survived Everest, I was ready for a tame experience. We had just enough time to make the next performance of Finding Nemo: The Musical. We both enjoyed the show, although I still like the Lion King show the best.

It was now around 10:45 AM. We planned to eat lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque as soon as they opened at 11:00 AM. Jason was trying to collect a FastPass from every attraction and there were a few more that he needed. I decided to head over to Flame Tree and he would meet me there.

When I arrived I saw that Flame Tree BBQ had opened early. I know the lines can get very long, so I texted Jason asking him to let me know when he was on his way so I could get in line. As soon as he did, I jumped into line and ordered. He arrived just as I picked up our food. Perfect timing!

We sat in the seating area below near the water, just like we did before. Once again we ordered the ½ slab of St. Louis ribs and the ½ BBQ chicken and created our own ribs/chicken combo plates by dividing everything up. The food was just as good as before. We both agreed that this was our favorite meal of the entire trip. As before, the total bill came to $17.02. This was one of the few counter service restaurants where we were able to use our Tables in Wonderland discount.

After lunch, we walked through DinoLand so Jason could complete his FastPass collection and then headed over to the Studios for the afternoon. We had a couple of PhotoPass pictures taken in front of Animal Kingdom as we left, one in front of the tree and another in front of the Animal Kingdom sign. I must say that when we looked at all the PhotoPass pictures at home, we were both very disappointed in the quality. Many of the pictures were crooked and some were blurry. I had hoped there would be enough good pictures to warrant purchasing the CD, but I wasn’t about to pay $75 for the few decent pictures we ended up with.

We drove over to the Studios and when we found no available spots in the disabled parking area, we circled around and let the cast member direct us to one of the regular spots. We lucked out and parked very close to the end of the row near a waiting tram. Within minutes we were at the front of the park.

Our top priority was to see Lights, Motors Action. The next show was at 1:20 PM. We still had plenty of time so we slowly made our way to the back of the park. Jason picked up a FastPass for StarTours for his collection on the way. We were in line for just a short time before they let us into the stadium. We were seated pretty much in the center of the stadium and had a great view of the show. I’m not really a fan of car chase movies and stunt shows, but I do enjoy this show. The man sitting in front of me must really be a fan, because he could barely sit still in his seat. Afterwards, we stopped by the Studio Catering Co. and ordered a chocolate fudge cake (which we split) and two cups of ice water. The total for the cake came to $3.83.

We decided to walk by Pixar Place to see if by chance there were any FastPasses left for Toy Story Mania. Of course, they were all gone for the day so we continued on to the Drawn to Animation show where this time we learned to draw Mickey. We were seated in the back row and I was next to a little girl who was around three years old. She and her dad sat at the table while the mom sat on the bench behind them. She was doing a pretty good job of drawing Mickey but lost interest about half way through. She suddenly announced to her dad that they needed to leave now. So the whole family got up and left. Jason and I stayed to finish our drawing. I think it’s amazing that anyone can draw a passable character by following the directions of the cast member. For someone with no drawing talent whatsoever, I turned out a pretty good looking Mickey. On the other hand, Jason has way more talent than I do and his Mickey turned out excellent.

Leaving the Animation area, we walked past the Great Movie Ride and saw there was only a 10 minute wait. This time we got the Western scene, so we were able to experience both scenarios on this trip.

Block Party Bash was just finishing up so we waited for it to end and then walked to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular. There was still a lot of time before the next show, but they were letting people in the theater so we were able to wait in comfort for the show to start. The show was entertaining and we both enjoyed it. We were getting a little nervous as we had an ADR at Hollywood and Vine at 5:00pm and wasn’t sure if we were going to make it in time. When the show ended, it was slow going getting out of the theater. Once we were free of the crowds we practically sprinted over to Hollywood & Vine and made it at 5:01 PM. We checked in and were seated within five minutes.

Our server was Charlie and he was very friendly and provided great service. There was a nice variety of items to choose from and we both left absolutely stuffed. This was the most we’d eaten at any one time so far in the trip. The total bill came to $57.71.

After leaving the restaurant, I waited on a bench while Jason ran to the Tower of Terror to pick up a FastPass for his collection. When he returned we browsed through the shops along Hollywood Blvd. At the souvenir stand near the exit, I purchased a Rock ‘n Roller Mickey and Jason bought a Star Wars Mickey.

We hopped a waiting tram to the parking lot. We remembered which section we were parked in but didn’t note the row number. We wandered up and down several aisles until I was beginning to think the car had been stolen! Finally, we spotted it.

We drove back to Pop and refilled our mugs with coffee to take back to our rooms. While I was there, my Dad sent me a picture of our house and yard covered with snow! They’d had quite a bit of snow over the weekend with more snow and ice due on Wednesday. This could make it difficult to travel home. We’ll remain in touch throughout the week. At 8:00 PM Jason came over and we watched TV for awhile.

Highlights: Seeing lots of animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris, eating lunch again at Flame Tree BBQ; learning to draw Mickey Mouse.

Pedometer stats:

Steps: 14,946
Miles: 4.71

Day 13 – Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Plan: Magic Kingdom; Visit Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness; Dinner at Trail’s End Café

Actual:

I woke up early, at 5:15 AM, and couldn’t go back to sleep so I read a book until it was time to get up. We had planned to spend the whole day at the Magic Kingdom and then take a boat to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness to look at the Christmas decorations before dinner at Trail’s End. Instead we decided to split our day between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot since we’d only made our way around half of the World Showcase.

We left Pop at 7:50 AM and since we planned to end up at Epcot, we drove there first and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. Since we’d done most everything that we wanted to do at least once, we weren’t not in any hurry at park opening, but instead stopped for breakfast at the Main Street Bake Shop. We split a Cinnamon Roll, Crumb Cake and Apple Charlotte. The total bill came to $9.45.

We decided to spend the morning listening to Lou Mongello’s Guide to Main Street which we had both loaded onto our iPods. Before leaving the bakery we listened to the introduction.

As we left the bakery the Main Street Players were just beginning their performance so we stopped to watch and take pictures. Then we walked back to the Main Entrance Plaza to begin our tour of Main Street with Lou Mongello as our guide.

The tour was excellent. We spent well over an hour totally immersed in the history and trivia of Main Street. By the time we finished, we both felt that we had really experienced the area. It was well worth the money and time we spent. We’ll do the Adventureland guide the next time we’re at the Magic Kingdom.

After we finished our comprehensive tour of Main Street, we headed over to Tomorrowland and did the Carousel of Progress, which we hadn’t done yet this trip, followed by the TTA, which we both love. Then, we picked up FastPasses for Buzz Lightyear. Jason wanted to get a second FastPass (even though he knew it would be invalid) for his FastPass collection. He was reluctant to put his park ticket into the FastPass machine immediately after getting his first FastPass. I kind of badgered him into doing it and of course his ticket got stuck inside and he had to call over the cast member to get it out.

We had planned to spend a little more time at the Magic Kingdom before heading over to Epcot, but realized that we had pretty much done all that we wanted to do there. So we took the monorail back to Epcot to try to finish up our tour of the World Showcase. We had made it counter clockwise from Canada to America so far. This time we decided to start in Mexico and work our way clockwise.

When we reached Mexico we realized we were hungry. We decided to stop at the Cantina de San Angel for a bite to eat. It looked pretty crowded but all lines were open and each line only had 3-4 people so we got in line and checked out the menu. We decided to share the combination plate, which consisted of a chicken taco, a beef burrito and a quesadilla served with black beans and salsa. I left Jason in line and went to find a place to sit.

The seating area was packed. There were a few empty tables but they were directly in the sun and it was very warm out, especially for us delicate flowers from the Northwest. I finally settled on a table for two that had a smidgeon of shade. After a while a group at a nearby table left and I moved over to take their spot. This table had an umbrella but with the angle of the sun there wasn’t much shade. The line moved pretty quickly and I watched as Jason ordered our food and then stepped back to wait for it to be ready. It was a long, long time before he picked up the tray of food. I’m not sure what was going on. They were definitely taking orders faster than they were filling them, as there was a huge crowd of people waiting to pick up their food.

Finally, he brought the tray to the table and we divided everything up. The food was average. I would say that I enjoy Taco Bell more than I did that meal. The total bill came to $9.58, which would have bought us a lot more food at Taco Bell.

After lunch we explored Mexico finishing up with a ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros. I must say I enjoyed the newly refurbished ride more than the old El Rio de Tiempo.

Next stop was Norway where we picked up FastPasses for Maelstrom. After looking around the shops, we noticed that the stand by line for Maelstrom was only 10 minutes, so we decided to ride now instead of having to backtrack later on to use our FastPasses. This was our first time on the ride and we both enjoyed it, although we thought it was really short. After the ride was over, everyone gathered in a waiting area outside a couple of doors that we soon learned led to a theatre. While we waited, I noted that there was no other way out except through the theatre. The only other door was marked for cast members only.

As soon as the theatre doors opened, we went inside and sat down. Then we noticed that most of the other people walked straight through the theatre and out the other side. Maybe in the future we’ll do the same, but since this was our first time we stayed for the movie. We both enjoyed it, especially since it was a chance to sit and relax in a cool place. The movie was only about five minutes long and soon we were dumped into the obligatory gift shop. We looked around for awhile before heading to the next pavilion.

China was our next stop. We looked around the pavilion and then went inside to see the 360 degree movie. It was interesting, but my knees and legs were tired and sore so it was difficult to enjoy it while standing up.

We had explored Germany the night we ate at Biergarten so we mostly took some pictures and listened to Helga, the Christmas Storyteller, for a few minutes. After we finished in Germany, we moved on to Italy. We only spent a few minutes here, as we were both tired and ready to be done with the World Showcase. If we can manage it, we’d like to come back to see Off Kilter later in the week, but other than that we’d covered the World Showcase pretty thoroughly.

It was about 3:45 PM by the time we finished in Italy and even though we were due to eat dinner at Trail’s End at 7:55 PM, we couldn’t pass up another visit to the bakery in France. Jason had a Napolean and I had the Crème Brulee. We were both eyeing the chocolate cake so we decided to split a piece. I know, it’s a lot of food, but everything looked so good it was hard to resist. Everything was outstanding as expected and we enjoyed it tremendously. The total bill came to $11.56.

Since all the tables outside the bakery were taken, we ended up sitting inside at one of the tables they have at one end of the souvenir shop. After we finished eating, we looked around and I ended up buying a small French Minnie Mouse as a memento of our favorite pavilion in the World Showcase.

We decided to head back to Pop to rest before dinner. On the way out of the World Showcase, Jason stopped at one of the stores in the UK pavilion so he could buy the UK Mickey Mouse. I waited on a bench while he ducked into the shop. The weather was turning much, much warmer than it had been at the beginning of our trip. It makes it a little easier to face the end of our vacation.

Back at Pop we stopped at Everything Pop to refill our mugs and pick up our packages that we’d had sent from the Animal Kingdom the day before. It took a really long time. There was another woman picking up her packages and the cast member took all our claim checks. She was in the back room for what seemed an eternity, but probably seemed longer than it really was because I was so ready to lie down and rest. We decided next time to just take our packages with us. We could have waited until we were ready to leave the park and made our purchases on the way out. Once I was back in the room, I soaked in a hot bath and then rested for a while.

At 7:00 PM we met up again and drove to Fort Wilderness. Since this was our first time there, we set the GPS and easily followed the directions to the Guard Shack. However, the guard told us we were at the wrong entrance. He told us to make a u-turn to get back to the road, turn left, then left again and then take a settlement shuttle. By now it was completely dark and we had no idea where we were. We followed his directions and ended up in a very deserted looking parking lot with absolutely no one around. It was so unlike anything we’d experienced before at WDW. We’re used to a cast members always being there to show us the way to go. We parked the car, not at all sure we were in the right place, and walked towards some buildings. We passed the kennel and eventually found a directory with a map. We followed the path to the Outpost bus depot, where a large group of people were waiting. After a few minutes, a bus pulled up and several people got off but no one got on. Unsure, we approached the driver and asked him if this was the bus to Trail’s end. He said yes, so we got on. Shortly after, a few more people got on and we were on our way. The driver called out the stops along the way but we had no idea which stop was ours. When he called out, “Settlement,” and everyone else moved to get off, we decided to follow.

Following directions on a sign, we ended up at Trail’s End where we checked in. They were waiting for tables to be cleared so we were given a pager. At one end of the large porch were rocking chairs. We sat down but soon realized that this was a smoking section so we got up and moved away. It was very dark out so we couldn’t see much of our surroundings. There seemed to be a lot of lighted Christmas decorations out in the distance. I’d heard that many campers decorated their sights for Christmas. We passed the time trying to get some pictures of the Christmas tree. But because it was so dark we had trouble getting anything decent. Finally, we sat on a bench near the restaurant entrance and waited.

We waited about 20 minutes before we were seated. The place was only about half full. The food was served buffet style. There was a decent salad bar, lots of dessert selections, and a great selection of entrees and sides. Because I’d heard great things about the ribs and chicken, I focused mainly on those, with an occasional piece of pizza and helping of macaroni and cheese. There’s always room for dessert so we packed in an assortment of cookies, brownies, rice krispie treats, apple cobbler, and ice cream. The total bill with our Tables in Wonderland discount and gratuity came to $47.46.

After we’d eaten as much as we could hold, we wandered over to the Trading Post to look around. I found a mailbox to drop off some postcards for family. Then we walked over to check out the decorations at some of the nearby sites. They were amazing and outshone anything anyone in my neighborhood puts up. We didn’t wander far because it was so dark and we were afraid we’d get lost.

It was getting late by our standards so after a short while we took the bus back to the parking lot and drove back towards Pop. On the way we stopped at the Hess station and put $5.00 in the tank to get us by until we leave. I had prepaid for a tank of gas when I rented the car because I was so unfamiliar with the area and wasn’t sure how easy it would be to get gas before I had to return the car. In Oregon it’s illegal to pump your own gas and I’ve been spoiled in the years since moving from California. Alamo charged $1.81 per gallon, which at the time was a lot less than we were paying in Oregon. I quickly found that gas on property was running around $1.65. I thought a tank would last the entire trip, but we did more driving off property than we expected to and the gauge getting close to empty. The last thing I wanted was to run out of gas on the drive to the airport at 5:00 AM.

It only took a few minutes to get gas and we were back on the road. We could see Illuminations from the gas station and realized that Epcot was very close by. When I’m in the parks, I totally forget that there are roads and gas stations close by. I just get totally immersed in the atmosphere.

Back in my room, I did the usually transferring of pictures to the laptop and recharging of phones and camera batteries before turning in at 11:00 PM.

Highlights: Following Lou Mongello’s guide to Main Street, trying new treats at the bakery in France, discovering the excellent food and atmosphere at Trail’s End.

Pedometer stats:

Steps: 19,907
Miles: 6.28

Day 14 – Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Plan: Downtown Disney, Winter Summerland Mini-Golf, Magic Kingdom

Actual:

We both slept a bit later than usual, since we were heading over to Downtown Disney this morning instead of going to a park. Jason came over at 8:10 AM and we hung out in my room until 9:00. On our way out, we stopped at Resort Airline Check-in to make sure we’ll have time to check our bags before we leave for the airport on Friday. Our flight leaves at 8:00 AM and Resort Airline Check-in opens at 5:00 AM. You’re supposed to check your luggage at least three hours before your flight so we weren’t sure if they’d be able to accommodate us. Fortunately, it won’t be a problem. One of the employees usually arrives at the desk early. We’ll need to be there at 4:45am. We’re not taking Magical Express to the airport but it will be very convenient to be able to check our bags at the resort and not have to worry about them at the airport. Next we made a quick stop at the front desk. I had two $50 Visa gift cards that I wanted applied to my room account. That was easy enough to do and within a few minute we were on our way.

We used the GPS to find our way to Downtown Disney and parked at the far end of the Marketplace. The parking lot wasn’t very full and we found a spot very close to the entrance. We were both starving so our first stop was the Earl of Sandwich for a very early lunch. The place was practically empty, with only one or two other parties in the seating area. We decided to get a Hawaiian BBQ sandwich and the seasonal Holiday sandwich and each have half of each sandwich. Both were excellent. The Hawaiian BBQ has ham, grilled chicken, Hawaiian BBQ sauce, Swiss cheese and pineapple. The Holiday sandwich has turkey, stuffing, zesty cranberry sauce, and gravy. This was also one of the few times we ordered beverages. We both had cups of Kona coffee. The total bill came to $16.41.

Full and happy, we wandered around looking at the shops, picking up a free sample at the Ghirardelli store. We did most of our shopping at the World of Disney Store because we could get a 10% discount by using either a Disney Visa or an Annual Pass. I was surprised how much smaller this store is compared to the one in California. Still, I wasn’t disappointed because I really wasn’t up to a lot of walking. The plan was to have everything shipped directly to our house, but we didn’t want to ship the souvenirs we’d purchased for friends and family and after taking those away, there really wasn’t much left. Hopefully, we’ll be able to fit it all in our suitcases. Many things were marked down. Mugs were 40% off, ornaments 50% and t –shirts were 30% (I think).

We’d been saving the toiletries that Mousekeeping placed in our rooms and each just using the one set we received on our first day. Since ornaments were half price, we purchased several sets of character ornaments. When we returned home, we purchased small clear plastic bags and put a shampoo, a bath soap and a facial soap inside each bag. Then we tied a character ornament to each bag and gave them to family members as a souvenir. Jason also handed them out to co-workers. It was an inexpensive, yet fun souvenir.

My legs were really getting tired. I seem to do better if I can keep moving rather than standing for long periods of time. I rested on a bench while Jason checked out the Lego store. When he returned we ducked into a shop (I think it was called Pooh’s Corner) where I found a Mickey Mouse cookie cutter that looked fun. Later, after we returned home to snow and ice, we spent a fun afternoon making Mickey-shaped sugar cookies.

Neither of us are huge shoppers, so we decided that we’d had enough of Downtown Disney. Besides, it was getting really hot outside. I still wanted to see Off Kilter, but I wasn’t looking forward to walking all through Future World to get to Canada. On the drive over to Epcot, I decided instead to pull into the Yacht Club. We looked at the decorations in the lobby again and then took a Friendship Boat to the International Gateway. It was much easier on the legs.

We had 20 minutes until Off Kilter’s next show so we walked to Canada and found a seat on the bench. The sun was hidden behind some clouds which made it much cooler and very pleasant. We sat and relaxed until the show started. I had heard great things about Off Kilter and I wasn’t disappointed.

We couldn’t be this close to France and not stop in one last time at the bakery. This time we bought a Napolean, a chocolate mousse and something called a Nid Abielle (I think that’s how it was spelled). The Nid Abielle had a filling similar to that of the Napolean. It was good, but we both agreed that the Napolean was our favorite. Like usual, we split everything in half so we could each sample some of everything. The total bill came to $11.45.

We’d done everything we came to Epcot to do, so we headed back to the International Gateway. I decided to take a Friendship Boat back to the Yacht Club, but Jason preferred to walk rather than wait for the next boat. A boat was just pulling up to the dock when I arrived. I sat down and two seconds later Jason sat down next to me. He saw the boat pull up and changed his mind about walking.. The boat wasn’t crowded and we enjoyed the ride back to the Yacht Club. It was a little bittersweet as we realized that this would be our last visit to Epcot this trip.

Back at Pop we refilled our mugs and carried all our purchases up to my room. We spread all of our purchases out on one of the beds. We’d tried to get a little something for each family member and wanted to make sure we had something for everyone. Overall, I knew that I had spent way more than I had budgeted for and was experiencing some buyer’s remorse. I had purchased a few nice postcards that I planned to frame and hang on my office wall. Looking at the postcards, I realized I had purchased two of the same postcard; one at the World of Disney Store and the other at the Art of Disney store. We had also purchased washcloths that are compressed into little squares to go in the toiletries bags we were putting together for family. Seven of those washcloths at $3.00 each really add up. We had other souvenirs for family and decided to do without the washcloths.

All during the trip, I saved all the receipts, so I took some time to add things up and figured out that our daily average food cost was just under $25 per person. We had budgeted $30 a day per person, but with the Tables in Wonderland discount, and sharing some things, we had come in under budget. This savings more than covered the extra money I spent at Downtown Disney.

We decided to walk over to Everything Pop and pick up some dinner. I also wanted to return those few things. It’s nice that you can return Disney purchases to any Disney store, not just where you made the original purchase. While I was returning things, Jason looked around and found a t-shirt with the Spanish Monorail spiel on it that we had been practicing all week. He was debating whether or not to buy it but I pointed out that it was 30% off, so that clinched the deal.

Our business transactions taken care of, we headed to the food court and decided to share the Mom’s Night Out special which was turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and a corn muffin. Jason had carrot cake and I had a Mickey ice cream bar. We also picked up a couple of muffins for breakfast the next morning. The total bill came to $17.17 with tax and the Tables in Wonderland discount.

We took everything back to my room to eat, pulling the table between the two beds so we could eat and watch TV. We watched a couple of sitcoms on TV before saying goodnight at 9:00 PM. Tomorrow is our last day in the parks.

Highlights: Eating at Earl of Sandwich; watching Off Kilter perform; enjoying one last fix at the bakery in France.

Pedometer stats:
Steps: 11,456
Miles: 3.61

Day 15 – Thursday, December 18, 2008

Plan: Magic Kingdom for morning Extra Magic Hour; Lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern; Afternoon in Epcot

Actual:

I slept great and was up at 5:30 AM. Jason came over and we ate muffins before leaving the room at 7:00 AM. The original plan was to do Magic Kingdom in the morning and then move over to Epcot for the afternoon. However, we decided to just do the Magic Kingdom. I wanted to see the afternoon parade and we still had to pack.

Neither of us paid attention to where we parked the car yesterday so we walked pretty much all over the 50’s parking area until we found it in a totally different section than we thought we’d parked. After so many days, everything was starting to blur together. Finally, at 7:20 AM we pulled out of the Pop Century lot.

Arriving at the TTC, we parked very close up to the monorail station, just a short walk away. The express monorail wasn’t running so the Cast Members directed us to the resort monorail. In spite of making stops at the Poly and Grand Floridian, we arrived at the turnstiles at 7:53 AM.

When the park opened, we started with Fantasyland, riding Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh in quick succession. We stood in line for Snow White but realized that the line was longer than we wanted to invest at this time, so after about a minute we got out of line. We’ll ride this later on.

We both wanted to do Mickey’s PhilharMagic, which is one of our favorites at the Magic Kingdom. There was no wait and when the show was over we decided to hurry around and see if we could get into the very next show. Unfortunately, we just missed it, so we moved on to It’s a Small World.

Jason really wanted to see the Dream Along with Mickey show at the Castle forecourt, so we headed there next. I found a bench to sit on near the Partner’s statue, while Jason waited close to the castle. He wanted to videotape it.

After the show was over, we wandered over to Casey’s Corner hoping to pick up some corn dog nuggets. Unfortunately, they weren’t open yet. Since we were right near the entrance to Adventureland, we decided to listen to the second of Lou Mongello’s CD guides. We pulled out our iPods and pushed play at exactly the same time. We enjoyed this CD as much as the Main Street one. When Lou talked about the Swiss Family Tree House, we decided to go through it, as we hadn’t done it yet this trip. After the Tree House, we stopped at the Jungle Cruise to pick up FastPasses for later. We had a great time slowly working our way through Adventureland, listening to Lou share all kinds of trivia. It was great. I can’t wait for him to finish the rest of the guides.

When we reached the end of Adventureland we checked out the lines for Splash and Big Thunder. Both were too long and we weren’t eligible for more FastPasses yet. We walked back through Frontierland to Liberty Square. We were both starving and had a couple of hours until our ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. We decided that splitting an order of corn dog nuggets would just hit the spot. I sat down on the planter near the Liberty Bell while Jason went to Casey’s Corner to get the food.

He was back very quickly and we sat there and shared the nuggets. They were hot and crunchy and totally delicious. After eating, we boarded the Liberty Belle Riverboat and took a ride on the Rivers of America. There were plenty of good photo ops along the way, especially of Big Thunder Mountain.

We still hadn’t done the Enchanted Tiki Room yet, so we headed over there next. In spite of the negative comments I had heard about this attraction, I was so totally prepared to enjoy it. We were both disappointed. The show was awful. I doubt I’ll take the time to see it again.

We had 15 minutes until our ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. I sat on a bench near the restaurant while Jason ran over to Fantasyland to pick up a couple of FastPasses for his collection. At 11:55 AM we checked in and were seated within a few minutes. We had a table for two located right next to the stairway to the restrooms. It wasn’t the greatest spot with a steady stream of people going up and down the stairs.

I ordered the Pilgrim’s Feast which was roast turkey with herb bread dressing, mashed potatoes and a garden vegetable. Jason ordered the New England Pot Roast which was braised beef in a cabernet wine and mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and a garden vegetable. Again, we split our main entrée in half so we could try some of each. Both were excellent, but I think the pot roast was outstanding. For dessert, we had the three chocolate brownie sundae which was supposed to be a dark, white and milk chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce. I didn’t see the three kinds of chocolate, it all looked the same to me, but it was still excellent. The total bill with tax, gratuity and Tables in Wonderland discount came to $47.31.

After lunch the plan was to find a spot to watch the 3:00 PM Disney Dreams Come True Parade. We still had about an hour until the parade started and I didn’t want to have to stand up during that time. There was a bench in Liberty Square that looked like it would have a great view but it was in the sun and it was very warm out. So, Jason stayed on the bench while I walked along Frontierland looking for a better spot. When I reached Pecos Bill’s, I found two spots on the wall in front of the restaurant. It was nice and shady. I called Jason and he came over to join me. While we waited we watched the dad in the group across the way drop down and start doing push-ups. It was kind of random. His family didn’t seem to think it was odd, so they must be used to his behavior. Jason took a picture with his cell phone.

Even though I was still full from lunch, I decided that this might be my last chance for Disney popcorn, so I bought a small box. It was delicious.

I love parades, so I really enjoyed this one. I was busy snapping pictures and managed to get a few good ones. It’s so hard to take pictures when things are moving. I have many shots of the backsides of characters. We were pleased to see Jiminy Cricket featured in the parade. He’s Jason’s all time favorite character and doesn’t seem to get the exposure that the other characters get. It just isn’t fair.

After the parade we used our FastPasses for Jungle Cruise. Our skipper was Sarah, who did a great job and made the cruise very entertaining. She really had to dig deep into her bag of jokes at the end when we stopped for what seemed a very long time while the boat at the dock loaded a person in a wheelchair.

Next we stopped at Aloha Isle for one last Dole Whip Float. While we ate, we walked down Main Street. Jason stopped at the Emporium to buy a book about drawing Mickey. Then we sat on a bench in Town Square to finish our floats and just enjoy our last moments in the Magic Kingdom.

As we made our way to the exit, a Cast Member stopped Jason to ask if he would participate in the dining survey. Jason agreed so we both went into a building next to city hall and sat down at a computer. The survey was mainly interested in Jason’s experience at Casey’s Corner. Jason gladly took the opportunity to share his love of corn dog nuggets.

Back at Pop, we went directly to our rooms. When I entered my room, I immediately noticed that the Mousekeeper had left two more towel animals! This made a total of seven for the entire trip. I immediately went next door to Jason’s room and discovered that he also received two more animals. Once we finished admiring our animals, I returned to my room and soaked in a hot bath for a while, which helped my knees tremendously.

After resting for a short while, I started the daunting task of packing. In addition to all the stuff I brought with me, I had to find room for everything I purchased, plus an assortment of park guides and entertainment schedules. I was glad that I had the two suitcases, even though they were a pain to drag around. Once I finished packing we walked over to Classic Hall. I wanted to make sure that our room accounts were in order since we were leaving so early in the morning and didn’t want to spend time dealing with it then.

We weren’t particularly hungry, but we thought we’d pick up some snacks for later, since it was our last opportunity to have our favorite goodies. I chose a Mickey ice cream bar and a cupcake, while Jason chose a cupcake and carrot cake. We each picked up a Mickey rice krispie treat to take home.

Back in the room we watched TV until 9:00 PM and then said goodnight. I set a wake-up call for 3:30am and then turned out the lights.

Highlights: Following Lou Mongello’s audio guide to Adventureland; corn dog nuggets at Casey’s Corner; lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern

Pedometer stats:
Steps: 14,408
Miles: 4.54

Day 16 – Friday, December 19, 2008

Plan: Travel home

Actual:

My wake-up call came promptly at 3:30am. I showered and dressed then finished my last minute packing. I ate a slice of bread with peanut butter. Jason came over shortly after to let me know that his luggage weighed 51 pounds. Since I had two pieces of luggage, I was well under the weight limit so we redistributed a few things between the three bags.

Once everything was packed up and ready to go we took a minute to thoroughly check out the other person’s room to make sure nothing had been left behind. We get so used to see our own stuff that it’s easy to miss something.

We walked over to Resort Airline Check-in, dragging all the luggage with us. We arrived at the desk at about 4:50 AM. It didn’t technically open until 5:00 AM, but a woman was already there working. It took awhile to get us checked in since she was have trouble with the computers, but eventually our luggage was checked in, we were issued our boarding passes and all we had left to deal with was our carry on items. We walked back to the car and were on the road by 5:20 AM.

The Alamo car rental return area was easy to find. There were no lines so it took just minutes to turn in the car. The security line was short, so we were quickly through without incident. We took the tram over to the terminal and found that our gate was the closest one. That rarely happens. Usually my gate is the furthest away! The waiting area was very empty. We’d made such good time all the way through that we arrived with plenty of time to spare. This is fine with me. I’d rather be too early than be worrying whether or not I was going to make it in time.

After we found seats, I walked to Burger King, which was right next door and picked up a cup of coffee. Eventually, I ate the Mickey Rice Krispie Treat not because I was hungry, but mainly for something to do.

At 7:30 AM we boarded the plane. The flight attendants didn’t seem as prepared as they were on our trip to Orlando. There was no pillow and blanket waiting for us and they didn’t hand us our bottle of water until after the plane took off. No problem, we’re capable of pulling our own pillow and blanket down from the overhead compartment.

Shortly after takeoff, we were handed our DigePlayers and the attendant came around with a beverage service. I had a glass of cranberry juice. After we were served our beverages, the attendant came around and took our breakfast orders. This time we had a choice of a ham and cheddar omelet or tomato basil quiche. Jason and I both chose the omelet. While we waited for breakfast to be served, I finished the movie “Waitress” that I had started on the flight over. I only had about 15 minutes left to watch.

Breakfast began with a fruit bowl containing honeydew melon, sliced oranges, blueberries and a strawberry. A basket was brought around with a selection of warm pastries. The main course was a cheese omelet with cubes of ham sprinkled across the top. On the side were herbed roasted red potatoes and two slices of Applewood smoked bacon. Another beverage was offered so I had a cup of coffee. Once again everything was served in real dishes with cloth napkins. The food was hot and delicious. I think it was around this time that we experienced some turbulence. Fortunately, it didn’t last very long, only about 15-20 minutes.

After breakfast I read for awhile and then napped. There was plenty of leg room to stretch out. Jason had the window seat and was easily able to cross in front of me when he needed to leave his seat to use the restroom. Later on, I watched another movie, “Miracle on 34th Street” since we had learned some trivia about it on the Yuletide Fantasy Tour, and also because it was close to Christmas.

About five hours into the flight we were served a warm dish of assorted nuts and just before landing we given a moist towel to freshen up. We both decided that First Class is the way to go for long flights. Usually, I’m exhausted at the end of the long flight, but both times we were well rested and relaxed.

We landed in Seattle on time at 11:25 AM. All around us we could see lots of snow and ice, a drastic change to Orlando. After getting off the plane, we relaxed in the Board Room for about an hour. I had a glass of cranberry juice and a slice of raisin bread. At 12:20 PM we made our way to the gate for our short flight to Portland. The area was mobbed with people. Because of the snow, many flights were delayed. Flights leave for Portland about every half hour but the flight that was scheduled to leave the half hour before us still hadn’t boarded. Fortunately, our flight was boarding on time. There is no First Class on this leg of the flight since it’s such a short flight and a very small plane. However, the woman who issued our boarding passes back at the Pop Century had granted us MVP status so we were able to board first without waiting in line.

After being spoiled on our last flight, we felt cramped and very crowded. The flight was only 50 minutes long. There was no official beverage service. Once the plane was in the air, the attendants came through with either a bottle of water or a 4 oz. container of apple juice. I chose the water.

It was a quick flight and we landed on time in Portland. There was snow on the ground, but much less than Seattle. My dad was waiting for us and we quickly gathered our luggage and headed for home. We really lucked out all around. None of our flights were delayed. The roads in Portland were clear and the next snow storm held off until we made a quick trip to the grocery store for some provisions. Then it snowed pretty heavily for the next three days and remained on the ground until after Christmas.

Without question this vacation lived up to the very high expectations we had set for it. The weather was perfect and the crowds weren’t much of a factor thanks to all the advanced planning we did. The food was outstanding and I came home three pounds lighter than I was when I left, in spite of all the desserts in France.

Next up is a 5 night trip to Disneyland in February for my birthday. This will be the first time I’ve ever spent my birthday at a Disney Park and it was planned well before Disney announced there, “What Will You Celebrate” promotion.

Our next trip to Walt Disney World will be in November before our Annual Passes expire. This time we’ll be joined by my parents (Jason’s grandparents). We’ll be celebrating two events, their first trip and their 54th wedding anniversary.

If you’ve reached this point, thanks for reading this very long trip report. I love reading everyone else’s trip report, the more detailed the better, so hopefully you feel the same.

Until next time,

Patty

If you're interested in seeing any of the 1,800+ pictures I took on this trip, please visit my Flickr Photostream (http://www.flickr.com/photos/pattyonflickr/sets/72157610542457682).

Hey Patty -- great report! Thanks for sharing!

My family and I were there at the same time as you guys (but not for quite as long). One day I hope to write a trip report that includes the words, "Day 16"! :)

I was perusing your photostream on Flickr -- what a comprehensive record of your trip. You've got some great shots in there!

Keep an eye out for my own very detailed trip report probably in a few weeks.

-Steve

Great TR Patty! It took me two evenings to read it but its just the kind of detailed report I love! I learned quite a bit from your report about certain events (MouseFest) and tours (Yuletide Fantasy), as well as the Lou M. tours on CD. I know that your report is a labor of love and want you to know I appreciate the effort (I've written 2 or 3 over the years). I hope you plan to write a report about your February trip to DL. I'm still making notes on my November 2008 TR about the F&WF and David Cassidy concerts!!

Hey Patty -- great report! Thanks for sharing!

My family and I were there at the same time as you guys (but not for quite as long). One day I hope to write a trip report that includes the words, "Day 16"! :)

I was perusing your photostream on Flickr -- what a comprehensive record of your trip. You've got some great shots in there!

Keep an eye out for my own very detailed trip report probably in a few weeks.

-Steve

Thanks for reading Steve. I'm looking forward to reading your report and getting your perspective on things, since we were there at the same time.

Great TR Patty! It took me two evenings to read it but its just the kind of detailed report I love! I learned quite a bit from your report about certain events (MouseFest) and tours (Yuletide Fantasy), as well as the Lou M. tours on CD. I know that your report is a labor of love and want you to know I appreciate the effort (I've written 2 or 3 over the years). I hope you plan to write a report about your February trip to DL. I'm still making notes on my November 2008 TR about the F&WF and David Cassidy concerts!!

Thanks for the kind words. Someday I hope to visit during F&WF and would love to read your report. David Cassidy was my absolute favorite when I was growing up. I was such a fan that even now when April 12 rolls around it usually pops into my mind that it's his birthday.

Wow, I am in awe. What a wonderful trip report.

I have stayed as long as you and isn't it great. You don't feel rushed to do it all. And even so, there were things we "just didn't have time to do".

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Ellen

Wow, I am in awe. What a wonderful trip report.

I have stayed as long as you and isn't it great. You don't feel rushed to do it all. And even so, there were things we "just didn't have time to do".

Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Ellen

It was great to stay that long, but you're right, we still didn't do everything. It just means we'll have to go back again.

ok I haven't finished reading the whole report yet but had to comment on something you said.

I 100% agree that if you're in line to get a fastpass, the rest of your party should wait for you before joining the stand-by line. I think it is so rude when you have those people "excuse me" themselves through the whole line.

In fact this past September when I went with my mom. I got on the FP line for Toy Story and mad a comment to her while I was in line that she should wait for me by the entrance. The cast member heard me say this and she said "oh you're mom can go right in and you can meet her on line" Well, I took this opportunity to let everyone in the FP line know I feel about that. I said "No thank you, it's sucha pet peeve of mine when people do that. I think it's so rude when people do that" Well you should have seen some of the looks I got from people in line. Some were pissed, some sheepish, and I even had a few people applaud! haha

So I applaud you for waiting in line properly. :D

Now back to reading the report...I'm LOVING it so far!

Great report Patty!!
We are going Dec 09 and flying from Portland, OR . It was great to read a report from somebody in our neighborhood that went the same time of year!!
Sue

Hey Patty,
Was the castle lit up differently for the Very Merry Christmas Party than regular hours??

Gosh Patty - it's a real shame you don't take many photos <g>! Omigod - but I loved them all! So glad Jason enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies from France, although the one he got at the Studios looked great, too. I'm also a fan of the corn dog nuggets - used to get them as a kids' meal at Cosmic Rays but now the only place that has them is Casey's. I just don't think to stop there, though.

It's so nice you & you son share the enthusiasm for WDW and travel well together. Nice touch getting separate rooms, too - 2 weeks sharing a bedroom with someone would be a bit much and Pop is certainly affordable.

I used to live in Portland - for about a year in the early 80's. I absolutely LOVE it, except for the constant drizzle 10 months of the year. If it wasn't for that though, Portland is pretty close to ideal!

Thanks again for the great report - looking forward to your next trip! You've inspired me to take alot of pictures on my next (4-night) trip, too.

Hey Patty,
Was the castle lit up differently for the Very Merry Christmas Party than regular hours??

It was lit the same for both the party and regular hours. Very beautiful!

Great report Patty!!
We are going Dec 09 and flying from Portland, OR . It was great to read a report from somebody in our neighborhood that went the same time of year!!
Sue

It's a great time of year to go. I hope you have as great of time as we did!

Gosh Patty - it's a real shame you don't take many photos <g>! Omigod - but I loved them all! So glad Jason enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies from France, although the one he got at the Studios looked great, too. I'm also a fan of the corn dog nuggets - used to get them as a kids' meal at Cosmic Rays but now the only place that has them is Casey's. I just don't think to stop there, though.

It's so nice you & you son share the enthusiasm for WDW and travel well together. Nice touch getting separate rooms, too - 2 weeks sharing a bedroom with someone would be a bit much and Pop is certainly affordable.

I used to live in Portland - for about a year in the early 80's. I absolutely LOVE it, except for the constant drizzle 10 months of the year. If it wasn't for that though, Portland is pretty close to ideal!

Thanks again for the great report - looking forward to your next trip! You've inspired me to take alot of pictures on my next (4-night) trip, too.

I've enjoyed every one of your reports Sue and am glad that you enjoyed mine!

Jason and I shared a room during one of our trips to Disneyland six years ago. I'm sure he's wrong, but he claims I snore. Neither of us got much sleep that week and we were both cranky. After that, we always get our own rooms.

Patty,

Well, I'm finally finished! Read the whole thing, most of Saturday evening and a good chunk of Sunday. LOVED IT!!!! I cannot, cannot, cannot imagine having 16 glorious days. We're planning an 11 day in August (yeah, I know--HOT!) and that seemed luxuriously long.

I got about 1/4 of the way through and thought about posting, "HEY---There's corn dog nuggets at Casey's" but refrained. Glad I did as you were able to find them!! They're my son's favorite too.

Well, I didn't know who you were, but I was at the Dole Whip meet too! So, nice seein' ya! He-he. Glad you put in all of those details and put the prices with the TIW discount. I'm thinking about getting one of those in August if they don't have free dining the week we're there (last week of Aug). Sounds like it was worth it. I have 3 trips in the AP/TIW window, so I know I'll use it enough to pay it off.

Now I'm off to go look as your pics. If no one hears from me for the next 24 hours, you know I'm in flickr somewhere.....:fez:

PS--Do you teach piano? (referring to your Eighty8Keys) I teach piano. I haven't tried it yet because the kids are always along, but you might want to try Jellyrolls on your next trip. Dueling pianos!

Patty,

Well, I'm finally finished! Read the whole thing, most of Saturday evening and a good chunk of Sunday. LOVED IT!!!! I cannot, cannot, cannot imagine having 16 glorious days. We're planning an 11 day in August (yeah, I know--HOT!) and that seemed luxuriously long.

I got about 1/4 of the way through and thought about posting, "HEY---There's corn dog nuggets at Casey's" but refrained. Glad I did as you were able to find them!! They're my son's favorite too.

Well, I didn't know who you were, but I was at the Dole Whip meet too! So, nice seein' ya! He-he. Glad you put in all of those details and put the prices with the TIW discount. I'm thinking about getting one of those in August if they don't have free dining the week we're there (last week of Aug). Sounds like it was worth it. I have 3 trips in the AP/TIW window, so I know I'll use it enough to pay it off.

Now I'm off to go look as your pics. If no one hears from me for the next 24 hours, you know I'm in flickr somewhere.....:fez:

PS--Do you teach piano? (referring to your Eighty8Keys) I teach piano. I haven't tried it yet because the kids are always along, but you might want to try Jellyrolls on your next trip. Dueling pianos!

Hi Tina,

Glad you made it all the way through the report. Even spending 16 days, we still didn't do absolutely everything we wanted do although we managed to do a lot.

The Dole Whip Meet was fun, sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you. There were a lot of people I didn't know, but sharing a love of Disney makes people easy to talk to. I was waiting in line for Best Buy to open the day the Nintendo Wii was released and struck up a conversation with the women next to me in line. Turns out she's a DVC member and big WDW fan. It was the best two and a half hours I ever spent in line. We were both surprised when the store opened.

We broke even with the Tables in Wonderland card lf on day 10 of our trip. That was with just the two of us, limiting our table service meals to an average of one every other day, and sharing some of our meals. We'll use it again in November when we bring along my parents.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. I uploaded all of them, good and bad, because each one brings back great memories.

I used to teach piano when I was in high school, but now I just play for fun. Not many people get the EightyKeys reference.

Thanks,

Patty

Your pics were great!!!!!

I really enjoyed reading your trip report! Will have to look for more!
Man, great pictures too! I am glad I am not the only one who takes pictures of their food!!

I must have missed your report when you first posted it, but I'm so glad someone else has brought it back onto page 1. I am visiting December 2010 and really enjoyed this report. Thanks for taking the time to write it. I hope my DS still wants to visit Disney with me when he's all grown up!

What a wonderfully long trip! Thanks so much for posting ... and for posting it all at once! ;)

Enjoy your November trip! My husband and I will be there then for a few days of Food & Wine Festival fun, and I can't WAIT!

:~D hold the phone IT IS ILLEGAL TO PUMP YOUR OWN GAS IN OREGON ? as the late great PAUL HARVEY used to say it is a "SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL". GLAD YOU HAD A MAGICAL TRIP FOR ME T-4 WORKING DAYS & COUNTING

I've read through the 6th and am really enjoying it so far! :)