Trip Reports
01-08-2007, 09:00 AM
Wendy Jordan -- January 2001 -- Offsite
January 4-11th.
Cast Members
Wendy - Age 28, mother of Georgie, wife of David. Certifiable Disney Fanatic! 6th Trip to Disney. Trip planner, meal maker and lover of all things Disney.
David - Age 30, father of Georgie, husband of Wendy. 6th Trip to Disney. Also big Disney fan, especially Tigger and Eeyore. Does the driving and usually carries the heavy stuff.
Georgie- Age 8. Fifth trip to Disney. This was a surprise trip, she was just a LITTLE excited!
Where we stayed-Offsite at Magic Castle Inn & Suites on Route 192.
Background Information
This was our 3rd Trip to the most magical place on earth this year. We went in late January last year (sorry no trip report for that one.) We went again in September (my trip report is on this site!) We decided to try and squeeze one more trip in with our fast passes quickly going kaput on January 11. :( Since we stayed on property (All Star Movies) last January, and half on, half off (Fort Wilderness Homes and Magic Castle on 192) in September we had to make a few cutbacks. We stayed at Magic Castle Inn & Suites for 6 nights. This is a great, inexpensive place to stay. What it lacks in, shall we say ambience, it certainly makes up for in price ...$39.95 per night! It also comes equipped with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. This is for the mini suites. I believe for a few dollars less you can get the standard room that only has the fridge. Go for the mini suite! It has a room divider, king sized bed and pull out couch. Much more comfortable after a long day at the parks. We missed staying on property but the bonus was this...we were at DISNEY!!!!! Yippee!
Travel Plans
Well since we were able to convince ourselves that we HAD to go back...those AP's were in our top dresser drawer just begging to be used, we had to make quick plans. We convinced our boss that we needed a week off. She said yes! We work together so it makes it easier to get the same days off. First we decided to drive down from Schenectady, NY; which wasn't something we looked forward to, but was more in our budget. We try to do it all in one day. We usually leave at 1am and get to our hotel around 11pm that night. It's not as bad as it sounds! You definitely have to be a fan to want to do it though! We made reservations with National Rental Car through Travelocity.com. Gas prices are still really high here so we were worried about that, but we figured it was in our budget. I searched for flights from Albany Airport, but the cheapest I could find anywhere were $158 and after flying in September at only $436 total for four people round trip I refused to pay that price. I searched all the travel sites and still found nothing.
I called Magic Castle Inn & Suites and made reservations for January 5th (very late arrival) thru January 11th. If you mention the internet rate you get the suites for $39.95. With that taken care of I decided to keep searching for plane tickets. Travelocity.com has a really neat "Fare Watcher" button so I let them know they could notify me when the flights went down about $30. WELL!!!!!! Surprise and Merry Christmas to me! They went down to $98 per person round trip!!! The bonus here is that it's cheaper than driving, we don't need the hotel on the way back (we drive straight down but always stop to rest on the way back) and we get a whole full extra day at the parks. We have to leave on the fourth at 8:20 pm from Albany Airport. I ordered three and then searched for the rental car we would now need in Florida. I ended up finding a great rate at Thrifty on Travelocity.com for $84.88 for a week. Their week is actually only 6 days, and since we are getting there at 1am we had to pay for a seventh. $34.88 for the extra day, which seems like highway robbery to me with the first six days being so much better of a deal! It was off airport, with a shuttle. NOT something I wanted, but the price was right. I won't do it again, more on that later!
Everything is all set. The dogs, rabbit and hamster are being taken care of by my Aunt Karen. For those of you who read my last report, she is blind and has a guide dog named Gwen. We took her with us in September. She does dog boarding and said it would be $80 for the week plus 1 day. It's nice to have family in the pet boarding business! We normally board at a kennel but I hate the thought of them being cold! The four kitties will fend for themselves with self-feeders and a visit from Uncle Timmy to change litter and do refills. Lucky Tim!
Now its countdown time! Georgie is finishing up her play and she is getting ready for a performance on New Years Eve. We have those things to keep our minds off counting the seconds!
The play is over and New Years is done, Dave has begun an hourly countdown!
Thursday-January 4th.
We got up on time and I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Don't know if it's nerves or a virus. UGH! We leave home at 7pm tonight for the airport. Nana & Pop-Pop are picking us up and we have HOURS to go! I don't know if I can make it! Dave and I have several meetings for work today so that keeps us busy. Georgie has schoolwork to do and because we told her we were going to Tennessee to visit "old people" she is not showing any real excitement. We have totally kept her out of the planning of this trip. It's going to be a complete surprise. Everyone else knows we are going...I don't know how we managed to do it! She ended up getting $50 in Disney $$$'s from friends for Christmas and thinks she has to wait until after we get back from Tennessee to spend it at the Disney Store. She is only looking forward to the plane trip, but we told her the actual trip would be boring and no fun at all. She would have to sit quietly while we visited and that was it. Poor kid!
Nana and Pop-Pop showed up and we headed out to the airport. We are running a little late when I realize I have no I.D.! Turned around and headed home, grabbed the I.D. and booked it to the airport. We only live about 15 minutes away but the flight leaves at 8:20 and its now about 7:50! We made it to the Delta counter with only a few minutes to spare. JUST to be informed that our flight was GASP-Cancelled due to a door that wouldn't close properly. C'mon can't they tape it or something! :) I was really upset, our ride had left and they can't get us on a flight until Friday at 6am. The Delta counter representative now says to Georgie "Don't worry you will make it to Orlando in plenty of time to see Mickey Mouse." Georgie gives her a blank look and then say's "But we are going to Tennessee." SURPRISE! Georgie didn't believe us at first but when she realized we were on our way to Disney she just about freaked out!
They put us up at the Desmond, the nicest hotel around. Bonus here is that I know the restaurant manager so I left her a brief note and said hello. Georgie and Dave went swimming. I ordered a pizza for them thru room service and called our hotel and rental car offices to let them know we needed to make arrangements for later check in's and pick ups. There was no problem. Since we were supposed to arrive at MCO at 1:15 I knew we wouldn't make it to the parks until very late morning anyway and this way we would get a whole nights sleep. EXCEPT we are now flying to Cincinnati first which adds 2 hours to our trip. Yuck. At least it will save us a night at the hotel and rental car! We watched ER and fell asleep around 11:30. It was tough getting Georgie to sleep, she was so excited. She was a little put out when she said, "But Mommy, everyone still thinks we are going to Tennessee. They will be worried." When I told her EVERYONE knew except her she was kind of disgusted!
Friday, January 5th
We woke really early and got the shuttle to the airport (after Dave made coffee.) We checked in at the Delta Counter at 5am and checked our luggage. After bagels, coffee and yogurt at the airport café we boarded and were able to sit together. With the rescheduled flight we weren't guaranteed this! The flight was really smooth and we arrived at Cincinnati ahead of schedule. WOO Hoo! A Disney Store! Did a little window shopping and had to check in and see if we could get seats together. Still not a problem! The flight was delayed 1/2 hour (so much for that ahead of schedule business) due to a heat valve not opening up. They got that fixed and we were on our way. The plane was much larger and we were seated in the center section in front of the movie screen. They played some boring CNN stuff and then an episode of Spin City. We listened to a little Broadway music on our headsets...which Georgie loved. We actually arrived at MCO a little ahead of schedule. Go figure. It was 60 degrees and sunny. Not bad, it was about 17 degrees in NY! We headed to pick up our luggage...it was broken and covered in grease. Absolutely filthy...Delta is getting a letter! I am not going to worry about it now, although one of the bags can't even be pulled now! We are here!
We got the shuttle to Thrifty and they gave us an upgrade. Made a big deal out of it...c'mon we know its because you ran out of the little cars. They asked us if we wanted the extra insurance and we said no. They charged us anyway. We went back and fixed it and we were in Magic Kingdom parking lots at 12:30!
Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as the Ticket and Transportation center on a sunny Florida day? Hopped the monorail and walked under the tunnel! WE ARE HERE! It was kind of cold and we were a little beat. We got espresso's and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. This is my all time favorite ride. It's pure Disney Magic! We walked around a little while, went to Alien Encounter (Georgie made it thru with very little trouble) and then watched the afternoon parade. Lines were long for everything due to the marathon. Georgie was picked to dance with the Aladdin float! We headed to the ferryboat to check in at the hotel. Got to Magic Castle, made some dinner and headed to Epcot. This is my absolute favorite park. The music alone is worth the ticket price! We went to Ice Station Cool and set up to women..."Really, try the Beverly, its SO GOOD." We ran...quickly and headed to World Showcase. Tee hee! All the Christmas lights were still on. It was beautiful. We basically just walked the showcase, got Fish & Chips from United Kingdom, walked back to Morocco and watched the Tapestry of Nations parade. It was so beautiful! Dave is having some tummy trouble (I think it's the pizza from last night!) Oh well, Georgie and I got all the fish & chips! We headed to Canada, got a beaver tail and walked to Mouse Gear. Bought the millennium CD and a Cinderella figurine playset for Georgie. We left and went to Publix on corner of 535 and 192 for beer, wine, soda, milk and a cheese ball for crackers. Back at the ol' homestead we unpacked and fell into bed.
Saturday, January 6th
We went to Magic Kingdom after having breakfast (comes with the room!) Got FP's for Splash Mountain and watched the Christmas Country Bear Jamboree! SO CUTE! Glad they still had it up! Got Minnie Ears headband for Georgie while Dave got FP's for Haunted Mansion. Did Splash Mountain. No line for Fastpass! We got drenched, but we got the front and second row so we finally got a good picture! Bought the picture and did a little gift shop browsing. Ate some sandwiches we brought and Dave got FP's for Peter Pan. Went on Haunted Mansion (got the chubby faced ghost) and then went on It's A Small World. About a five minute (if that) wait. Just as a note, don't bother getting a FP for anything that has a ten minute wait or less. They overestimate all waits, so you are doing just as good standing in the standby line. We stopped for a potty break and a snack and went on Peter Pan. All FP's were only about an hour separation so it was almost like, get FP's, go into line for ride, get off and go on FP ride! It was working out well. I finally got the picture of Wendy on the plank (I hope) and we went and got FP's for Winnie the Pooh. We watched the Lion King show and then headed to Toon Town to meet Cinderella and Ariel. Ariel was inside today because it was chilly outside. We didn't get an autograph book this time. Georgie has gotten just about everyone anyway. She spent the time talking with the characters instead. It was very nice. While waiting in line to meet the character a little girl about three or four starting saying "Excuse me, excuse me, I am trying to get up there to meet my mother. I can't find her, I think she's in this line." Now we figured there was NO WAY a child that small would be in the store alone while her mother was in line. Dave said "I bet her mother comes 'searching' for her in about a minute." Well surprise, surprise, Mommy 'thinks' her little girl might have walked into this line. She just had to find her! What do you think they did...yup...butted ahead! Scammers! C'mom people just get in line and don't lie! How sad. It was obvious that this little girl must be well trained and did this for every long line.
We got FP's for Buzz and went on Winnie the Pooh. I love the bouncing Tigger and floating water parts. We met Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee outside Teacups. A family tried to butt in front of everyone and pretended not to speak English. The cast member with the characters made them go to the end of the line. It was priceless! Boy oh boy could they speak English then! We walked over to Carousel of Progress just as a show was starting. I've seen it tons of times and still love it. We watched a band in Tomorrowland and Georgie got to limbo with them. Went on Buzz...Dave got a TON of points. Went to Main Street and bought a golf socks with Mickey for Uncle Timmy and a Tigger golf hat for Dave. Let me tell you, the hot dogs at Casey's smell so good! I am not a hot dog fan, but that smell was great!
We went to the hotel, had dinner and went to Downtown Disney Westside to see Castaway with Tom Hanks. Georgie did "You've got Mail" with him a few years ago, so we have a soft spot! AMC is the best theater! I love the seats and the prices are actually cheaper than here at our mall! The movie was great too! We went to Marketplace afterwards and shopped around at WOD. Georgie got a stuffed Bambi and a bunch of wind up dancing Princess/Prince toys. We went to Legoland, Ghiardelli's for some chocolate squares and then back to hotel.
Sunday-January 7th
Had breakfast (love those Krispy Kreme donuts!) Headed to MGM and got FP's for Rock and Roller Coaster, did TOT 2 times! No waits! Dave ran and got FP's for Indy. We went on Rock and Roller Coaster. A mother lied to her little girl at RnR and told her it didn't go upside down, just side to side and up and down. I mentioned that she might want to take off her glasses. Glad the little girl wasn't in our set of limo's! Poor thing. Went to Beauty & The Beast show. Sat on the left side of the theater, I liked it from that side. If I sit on the right I tend to watch the signers. They are just as entertaining as the show!
Stopped at candy shop (next to Villians) and bought Rice Krispie treat for Dave and Pear & Tutti Fruitti Jelly Bellies for Georgie and I. Got FP's for Little Mermaid and went on the Great Movie ride and then went to Indy. The show was very good. We are all into movies and theater so it was fun seeing how they do the effects. We went over to Little Mermaid and then met Mulan! Georgie told her she was dancing to Reflection in her dance recital. Mulan asked her to show her some of it. Well Georgie is really working on her shyness (yeah right) and proceeds to start dancing. I had to drag her away so other kids could meet her!
We got a couple of espresso's and Georgie played in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Dave played a little too while I snapped pictures. We met a Green Army Man and did Muppet Vision 3D. I don't think the effects are as good for this as they are for Bugs Life but it is still a favorite. Sweetums didn't come out until the very end and the rabbit said "Hi Sweetums" to him. Weird. We watched the Mulan parade, it is very good. The costumes are incredible. Mulan waved to Georgie and then remembered Georgie and waved again and winked. Magical Moment!
We stopped at one of the stores and ended up splurging on zip up sweatshirts for Dave and I. $40 a pop but it was cold out! We headed to the hotel for dinner and went back to MGM. Did TOT two more times. We have this thing about making funny faces when they snap your picture. We did "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." We also did the Dr. Evil/Austin Powers pinky thing. Saw the Osborne Family lights. WOW! They are incredible. The snow on NY Street was neat, but I have seen enough of it here in NY! :) We met Santa Goofy and Rudolph Pluto afterwards.
We left and headed to Epcot. Did Spaceship Earth with no wait at all. Called Nana and Pop-Pop from the AT&T family phone and then went to Ice Station Cool. Love that Smart Watermelon. I keep trying Beverly, I keep hating it too! No offense, but do Italian's have tastebuds? Went on Mexico ride, got a fabulous five flavor frozen margarita. Went to China and got the egg roll everyone talks about. They were SO good!
We watched some of Tapestry of Nations and bought a pretzel in Germany. They are so much softer than the kind you buy here. Georgie got glazed pecans in America and we went to Morocco and tried the tangerine tart. TRY IT! Watched some of Illuminations and walked out with the crowd. Went to Publix and got lettuce, contact solution and cushion inserts for my sneakers. In bed by 11 and didn't move until the alarm went off at 7am.
Monday, January 8th
Headed to Epcot and closed the place! It was much warmer today. 70 degrees but cloudy. The rest of the week had freezing temps at night but about 55-60 during the day. We didn't expect to spend the whole day but we were having so much fun we didn't realize what time it was. Dave went and got FP's for Test Track and we went to Innovention's. Sent a few D-Mails and played Mickey Tag.
We went to Test Track, it RAINED and we got splattered outside. Was actually kind of fun! We went to Wonder's of Life pavilion because of the rain. Georgie and Dave did Body Wars (makes me sick) and I played around with the stuff there. I caught the end of Anacomical Players. We ate our sandwiches, apples and cookies and left for the other side of Future World. It was still raining.
Stopped and got Mickey Bars and talked with a CM from NY. We went to Living Seas and separated so Dave could watch the movie while Georgie and I went to the Hydrolators. He thinks the movies are great, I think if you see them once, you've seen them. I know, I'm terrible! We checked out the manatees and Georgie pretty much fell in love with them. Met up with Dave and went to the top of the Manatee tank to watch them feed and see the presentation. They are so cute! Georgie bought a stuffed manatee toy for $6.00 and named it Shelley. She gets very attached to stuffed animals.
We went to The Land, saw Food Rocks and got some espresso's. Georgie even got one! Half actually. At $1.70 they are the cheapest we found on Walt Disney World property. We went on Journey Into Imagination, it was cute, but needs more Figment! I loved the surprise ending when they show you what your imagination looks like! POW! I know some people don't like this attraction, but I did. It was cute. We loved the area outside the ride. Sent a lot of funny photo emails back home! We checked out the Make your Own CD station but we already have a lot of the music so we passed. The glass photo cubes were really neat! Might get one of those next time we go. We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and lucked into the center section, center of the row. The effects were fabulous.
We headed to Canada, got a messy strawberries and whipped cream beavertail and Georgie started her Kidcot Mask. I love the Kidcot centers. Free, fun and the kids get to do a little playing. I saw a new Diana Barry doll I liked from Anne of Green Gables. It was about $50 and I want it! I am going to check on it thru the Internet.
We went to UK, did Kidcot and got a beer at the Rose and Crown pub. Headed to France but Kidcot was closed. Later found out it had moved indoors. We stopped in Morocco, did Kidcot (love the tilework here) and then headed to Japan.
Georgie did the Japan Kidcot with a CM from Texas! We spent a lot of time there, it's one of our favorite countries. I bought some awesome chopsticks with a matching box (I use chopsticks a lot.) At $4.50 they make a very inexpensive gift and they have a million to choose from. We then checked out the Hello Kitty section. Georgie has her eye on everything there! We spoke with a Japanese woman about how to make sushi, and then Georgie discovered the pearls in the oysters! She had to get one of course! She picked one out and then the woman opened it and she got a 7 1/4 mm pearl! That means it's big enough to beat the drum! Georgie was thrilled! We had it packaged up and are going to have a necklace made for her 9th birthday this summer. It is around $15 to do the oyster and it is a lot of fun! Much better than spending the money on yet another stuffed animal!
We did Kidcot at Italy and Germany and then watched the masked Kings and Queens in Italy for a while. What are they? Maybe I am showing my country stupidity here, but I have no idea what these people are, they just kind of walk around and pose for pictures. They don't talk and there were no CM's to ask. Pretty though! We did America Kidcot but skipped the American Adventure for another day. Went to Norway, did Maelstrom, and then stopped at the Kringla Bakery. Got coffee, a delicious cream horn and a chocolate dipped almond cookie.
Went to Mexico Kidcot and had nacho's and Coke. The nacho's at the cantina are absolutely awesome! They are big enough for a meal or great to split between everyone. At $5.75 they are also a great deal!
We went to China, did Kicot, saw a little bit of the child acrobat's, went to France for some Chardonay and did Kidcot. Georgie has now finished the mask and got all the country stamps! It only took a few hours to get them all and she had so much fun! What a nice souvenir. I saw a lot of parent's not letting their kids finish theirs and I felt bad for them. This park is not just about rides!
We went to the United Kingdom, got Fish & Chips and watched Tapestry of Nations. At this point we realized that Georgie had lost "Shelley" her little manatee. It was sticking out of her backpack a little (so it could breathe!) She is devastated and starts to cry. :( Poor baby! Especially since it was HER money! The zipper was really tight around Shelley's head so we think someone must have wanted Shelley really badly.
We watched the British Invasion. Georgie told them they were almost as good as The Monkees. She has a fascination with them! They said "We learned everything we know from Davy Jones." Georgie just doesn't get it!
We headed back to Future World while miss sour puss is still pouting. It is a stuffed animal for goodness sakes! But we have been dealing with such calamity for eight years and realize that unless she gets another Shelley to love she will "Never be the same." She is a bit dramatic at times! I took her to the other side of Innoventions while Dave snuck over to Living Seas for the $35.00 HUGE manatee. We are complete suckers aren't we??? We played with some of the neat computer stuff and then Daddy surprises her with the new "Shelley!" Almost as big as her and it weighs a lot! Georgie was on cloud nine!
We sent email postcards to family and friends and watched the Xerox presentation. I know it's all a big commercial but I really enjoy it. Got a free photo calendar of Georgie and the manatee. Very cute. Finally headed out. Somehow I had gotten a tiny tear in my sneaker and with all the rain I had been squishing from place to place all day. We stopped at Payless and bought new sneakers for me. We did a little laundry and were in bed by 11:00.
Tuesday, January 9
Alarm went off at 7 am. We showered and had breakfast. Off to Animal Kingdom. I like this park a lot, but it lacks the magic of the rest of Disney in my opinion. I think it will take a little more time for them to get everything honed perfectly. The tree is gorgeous of course! I stopped at Guest Relations while Georgie and Dave met with some of the stilt birdmen. I made PS's for Chef Mickey's on Thursday morning and joined them thru the gates.
We split up so Dave could get our FP's for Dinosaur and then Georgie and I wandered around the tree and gardens while we waited for Dave. One of the CM's took Georgie's picture in front of the tree. We met up with Dave and went into It's Tough to Be a Bug. We had to wait for the next show to start and we got seats midway back, right in the center. The trick for center seats is to let people in ahead of you and then you usually end up center. It was cute. I got stung and Georgie still swears a bug crawled up her pant leg!
We split up again so Dave could get our Safari FP's. We met Tigger and he made a big deal about Georgie's Tigger hairbow. We stopped at the restroom and I noticed the bugs crawling all over the walls! Actually these are cute tiles...I love the extra touch!
We met Dave and went on Dinosaur. I really like this ride, but wish they had kept the name Countdown to Extinction because it makes it sound better! We got on right away. There was actually no wait on either side at all. CM's were waiting for us! We headed to the gift shop because my favorite sunglasses were broken on the ride. No luck, everything is Nascar. What is going on with that?
We got a Simba's Paw ice cream for Georgie and headed to the Safari. Our guide was very good and used a lot of humor. We saw a lot of animals, weather was cold and there was steam coming out of a lot of weird places. Must be heat.
We headed to Camp Minnie Mickey but the Lion King show had just gotten out so the lines for the characters were awful. We met Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit and headed to the Dinoland Boneyard. Georgie loves this part of the park! We let her go inside for awhile and stayed at the exit. If you have an older child keep in mind that there is only one entrance/exit and if you park yourself next to it you can rest while they run around. Dave and I went in and Dave went down a twisty slide with Georgie. He is 6 foot 3 and banged his knees all the way down. I personally thought it was kind of funny. He saw no humor in growing up!
We stopped to purchase Georgie's pic in front of the tree. One of the bonuses about this trip are that the pictures are now cheaper. You can get them in 5x7 for $10. We bought almost all the pictures this time! Dave headed over to Africa and bought a Potato Volcano while Georgie and I went to the bathroom and went to the entrance to see the animals. The Potato Volcano turned out to be mashed red potatoes with salsa, ground beef, cheese, sour cream and green onions. It was very yummy and comes in a big plastic ice cream soda kind of cup. It was really neat to see and tasted great! I am sort of disappointed in the choice of foods at AK. I would like to see more ethnic variety. Most of it is safe grilled chicken and mac & cheese. Not everyone is afraid of new things!
We headed over to MGM and got FP's for RnR. Went on ToT times in a row! We did muscleman poses and pretended to be REALLY scared for these pictures! :) Next time I think we will bring a magazine to "read" while we get our pics taken. The drops changed every time and we rode all the elevators. None of them were the same. It was great! We got our afternoon espresso's and then went to Anaheim Produce for a big pickle. We meant to get fruit but Georgie saw the pickle. Espresso and pickles are kind of gross!
We went on RnR and then stopped in the Villain's gift shop. Dave went to the bathroom and while there decided to call the credit card company. ??? Don't know why, he said he had a "feeling." Well it turns out the dimwit at Thrifty not only charged are credit card $272, he also charged it a weird authorization fee (which you have to agree to) and then just "fixed" a new receipt for us! What a liar! We were livid! We can't do anything about it now, but we plan to! I'd like to make that guy sit on a boat in IASW for ten or twelve hours! Well to make up for his mistake we treated ourselves to The Nightmare Before Christmas movie CD...it's great by the way! We also picked up Sorcerer Mickey notecards that said "Nana" on them for my grandmother who is a huge Mickey Mouse fan. We had a discussion with the CM who works at Villain's and asked him why poor Jack The Pumpkin King was in the villain shop. I don't agree that poor, misunderstood Jack is a villain. The Oogie Boogie Man yes, but not my Jack! I met another Nightmare fan at Villain's and we discussed how wonderful the movie is.
We went on the Great Movie Ride again (my fave) and sat in the absolute last row of the second tram. I liked this a lot. We saw the Munchkin's sing goodbye and we have never seen that before. After that we went to see Doug Live. Georgie has been dying to get picked to be Quail Kid but still no luck! There were two early twenties men sitting next to us who were either HUGE Doug Live fans or are actually performers in the show. They sang along and new all the lines. It made it really fun. Doug has a fabulous voice and it is one of my favorite shows. We didn't see it in September, but Roger and Patty were the same people we saw in January. Patty is awesome, and is almost exactly like the actual cartoon! I didn't care for the dog/actor though, he didn't get into enough for me. We are really into theater and this guy just didn't have it in my humble opinion. Maybe playing a dog isn't his cup of tea, but I need to buy that he is "really" a dog!
We went and did Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous. I really wish I had brought Aunt Karen to see this show in September. She is blind and would have gotten a lot out of this attraction. When the killer bees are let out of the jar you actually flinch. I had to take off my headset when they started cutting my hair! Yikes!
We headed back to the room to check on the rental car situation. Then we headed to a Chinese buffet called Dragon Garden on 192. It was $9.99 per adult and $4.50 for Georgie. I wish we had just spent it on souvenirs and starved. YUCK! Don't waste your money. It was a rip off and tasted pretty yucky. I love Sushi and I was afraid to eat more than one piece. They were very rude too!
We headed to the Disney Marketplace and stopped at all the stores. Is the Pooh Store new since September? I don't remember it. We went to Disney at Home and got Mickey Mouse sheets for $39.95 king size. They were marked down from $79.95! The twin size were only $19.95! We also picked up a set of king sized matching pillows for $12.95 marked down from $29.95. They come in their own matching cloth cases. We went to Ghiardelli's and got hot chocolates all around and split a Cable Car Sundae. We headed back to the room and watched a movie on TNT with the girl from Sabrina. In bed by 10:30.
Wednesday, January 10
Last full day at Disney. :( We actually slept in until 8 and made it to the Magic Kingdom at around 10:15. Parked in Grumpy and hopped on the monorail. We split up and Dave got FP's for Space Mountain. Georgie and I went to Exposition Hall where we met Happy and Cruella DeVille. She was very interested in Georgie's furry Minnie Mouse Ears! Then we met with Dave at Merlin's Sword in the Stone.
We went on Snow White (five minute wait) and FINALLY saw Mickey's shorts on the laundry line. We didn't know it was there! I kept looking somewhere else!
We walked over to Tomorrowland and saw the Timekeeper. It was excellent! I highly recommend it! They mention the book called The Time Machine which I just finished reading by HG Wells. That was kind of neat...getting a look at the "author" of the book! I think everyone should see this show, but see it early when your feet don't hurt because you stand. Robin Williams does one of the voices and he is so funny!
We got FP's for Buzz and headed to Space Mountain. I can only do this ride once a trip. It makes my tummy ache! I love it though and Georgie and Dave are big fans! We made a postcard picture in the game room at the exit of Space Mountain and then went on TTA. Had our sandwiches and apples! I like the length of this ride and its neat how smooth it rides. Most people skip it, but DON'T, its perfect for a rest.
Our FP's were ready for Buzz and we went right on. Our Space Ranger spinner didn't work at all so Georgie who was up ahead said she would "play for you guys" and she racked up the whopping 1600 points for me and 1200 for Dave. Woo hoo! She doesn't know that isn't that many points.
Georgie and I headed to Toon Town while Dave got us FP's for Pooh. We wanted to see who else was in the face character line, but it was still Cinderella and Ariel who we met earlier. We waited for Dave and got in the Winnie the Pooh line. There was almost no wait and before we knew it we were hugging Eeyore, Winnie and Tigger!
We took the train around to Frontierland and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a complete walk on. Almost empty boat. After that we checked the times for the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon show and noticed that the Country Bear was down so they could "un-decorate."
We headed to Haunted Mansion and got FP's and then went on Winnie the Pooh. We passed Lumiere's and a gull swooped down and stole a bowl of ice cream right out of some poor man's hand! We told him to go back and tell them what happened and they would give him another one! We went on Pooh and when we got off we noticed the guy was UNDER the awning this time! It was about 5 minutes for the fast pass line, the standby was a whopping 90 minutes! WHY? WHY? Why would you stand in that line...hello FASTPASS! I sure miss Mr. Toad! Please Disney people, don't get rid of anything else! You have room to expand!
It was on to Casey's for a hot dog, fries and a milk for Georgie. Dave surprised Georgie with a pink Mickey Mouse balloon that she tied to her backpack. She looked so cute with her Princess sweatshirt, Minnie ears and balloon hanging from her backpack! Such a Disney kid!
We headed over the bridges to Liberty Square and saw Prince John, Friar Tuck and Liverlips McGraw from the Country Bear Jamboree. We also got the wonderful privilege of meeting the dumbest CM on the planet. He proceeds to tell Georgie that Belle is not a real princess. (Remember the Princess Sweatshirt?) She never married the beast after he became a prince again. She just (are you ready for this?) lives with him in the castle! Now I know they don't show a wedding but we assume it happens! I said to CM that "We like to keep Disney G-Rated" but he just didn't take a hint. Another CM tries to shut him up, but he just kept talking! Anyway, he called Liverlips "Big Al" and then admits he "isn't sure" all of the characters names because he is new and has only seen CBJ once. Really? I never would have guessed! He was not Disney material at all. The boy could not take a hint! This guy was a few nickels short of a dollar!
We headed to Haunted Mansion and had a brief talk with Georgie about how Belle would never live with the prince before getting married to him. She stayed (with Mrs. Pott's supervision) when he was a beast, but once they fell in love and he became the prince again they got married. Georgie said "She wears a crown in the parade so they must have gotten married and that made her a princess!" Smart little kid!
There was no wait for HM and after that we went to the porch of Diamond Horseshoe Saloon and watched the afternoon parade. Georgie was picked to dance with the Lion King and with The Little Mermaid floats so now I believe she has been part of all of the parade. We went into the saloon and got a front table. We got coffees and Georgie got her pickle. She immediately dropped it on the floor (it was huge) and they gave us another one. I cut this one up! The Saloon is seriously one of the most forgotten shows at Disney! It is so much fun! I love it! Georgie was picked to be part of it last January and she was picked again this year by the singing cowboy! It was so cute! Then the magician came out and he picked her too! Now everyone has already been introduced to her so when he asked her name and where she was from everyone in the audience laughed! He didn't understand why at all! She got this great "Magical Moment" certificate that they put her name on. Someone was backstage typing it! She has determined that she wants to be on the saloon stage when she grows up! Ah, we are proud!
We went to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree and then got a Dole Whip. We had to pass the smoking section, ugh! We stopped to see the Dapper Dan's on Main Street and then headed to the hotel to get our jackets. It was very cold!
We headed to Epcot and stopped at Ice Station Cool then meandered around World Showcase. Got a Ringes beer in Norway and then walked to Italy and watched a juggler. We walked thru to France and got red wine, a ham & cheese crossaint and a huge, scrumptious napolean! We went to the UK and got Fish & Chips and then headed to America. Saw the American Adventure, got a turkey leg and watched Illuminations. I love the music! I can't wait to get that CD home! It was beautiful, a perfect way to end our last day at Disney. It was over and the crowds moved quickly. We dragged our feet! We are now officially Annual Passless. Boohoo! We went to the hotel, packed up and set our alarms for an early wakeup.
Thursday, January 11
Dave's alarm went off at 5:45, mine at 6am. We showered, finished packing and checked out. We threw away the broken suitcase (drat Delta!) and headed to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's. We were worried we would have to pay for parking but we decided to hold up or AP's and they don't even look at the date. Waved us in and we were just minutes away from our traditional last morning breakfast with Mickey. Food was extra yummy and fresh. We had PS for 7:30 and the place was really empty. We got lots of attention from the characters! They kept sneaking up on Georgie. She really just wanted to meet Mickey Mouse and he snuck up and pushed her over on her chair so he could fit too! It was so cute! I took tons of pictures, I'm so glad she still believes! We had the same waitress we had last January. She told us it is her 29th year! WOW! Her husband works at MGM and her daughter is in the ToN parade! GOOD NEWS for ToN fans! They have extended it another four years! Yeah! We think it's the most beautiful, moving parade at Disney!
We bought more Gourmet Mickey kitchen stuff for Dave's mom and then got my Pop-Pop a license plate cover for his new van and a picture frame for Aunt Karen. We said goodbye to Disney with tears and headed to 535 for gas. Went to 192 and picked up some towels for the boys we work with back home and headed for Thrifty. They fixed our credit card (gee thanks, a week late) and we informed them nicely that we would NEVER use their services again. I have already written them a letter of complaint. I feel a letter is better than wasting your time on an employee who can't really do anything.
We hopped the shuttle and saw the huge line at the Delta check in counter. We dropped our luggage with the skycaps-so worth the tip and headed to the two cute little round Disney stores! These are not the same as The Disney Store they have on the other side of the airport. They are actually Walt Disney World Merchandise. Needed just a few more things! Really we did! We got Mickey pretzels for Nana, Pop-pop and Aunt Karen, cookies for the boys, and the Official Disney Album for us. It's great by the way! We went to the other store and got a magnet and the only dancing wind up princess and prince we couldn't find at the parks. BELLE....seems Disney thinks she is a princess!
We bought a Pepsi and Dave checked with Delta to see if we could sit together! YES! I caught up on this report and Georgie and Dave read for a little while. Then we chatted with a family who had just gotten back from the Disney Cruise. We have got to try that!
The flight to Cincinnati was VERY bumpy. They never turned off the seatbelt light. Ugh! We got to the airport only to find that our flight was delayed to Albany. Seems someone got VERY sick on the plane earlier and when they cleaned it up they made it worse. They had to change the carpeting! It was about 1/2 hour and we were up in the air. The pilot made a funny comment about how he wanted to make sure it "Smelled OK" for us! Flight went quickly with very little turbulence.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The upside of this trip was that it was relatively inexpensive. We were able to schedule it very quickly and w/o too much hassle. Since this was our third trip in 356 days (making it 22 days at Disney this year) we had to make a few cutbacks. We brought our own food in a cooler, stayed off property which was magicless but necessary. We tried to save money with Thrifty but I will never, ever book a car off the airport again. It was inconvenient and took too much time. I prefer picking up the keys and just going! It was definitely not worth the savings!
We saved a lot of money on food by making our own and bringing a cooler with us. We stayed at a hotel that offered a breakfast with the room, fridge, microwave and coffeemaker. I premade dinners and froze them before we left in Ziplocs and airtight containers. We had spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf, turkey and stuffing. We certainly didn't suffer. I just made regular dinners the week before we left and put servings for us in the freezer immediately. Because we were eating foods we were familiar with we didn't have the usual vacation tummy troubles that sometimes plague vacationers. We also packed most of our snacks, fruit, crackers, sandwich fixes, and veggies for salad. We froze a large water bottle every day (the insulated kind with a strap) to carry in the parks and only bought a drink once in Mexico. The only other beverages we bought were "wants" not needs!
One of the nicest things was the sharing of snacks. Because we bought one thing and shared it, we all got a taste and saved A LOT of money. We especially loved the fish & chips in the United Kingdom and got that every day. We also loved the beaver tails in Canada. Highly recommended. You don't fill up on junk either!
ALWAYS get fastpasses! When your time comes up for them go and get FP's for something else and then go on the ride you got the FP for first. This way you always have one waiting in the wings for you! Saves a lot of time!
Do something on your vacation that is not Disney related. For instance we went to AMC to see a movie. It made us remember we were on vacation, not just there to see Mickey Mouse again! It was also really nice to sit and rest.
Normally we suggest an afternoon rest but for some reason we didn't really need it this time. I think its because it was cool the whole time we were there. Sun can sap you of your energy and we didn't feel hot at all. Also, always pack for any kind of weather. We packed warm and cool clothes because we knew we might need it. Check the weather reports before you go online. They are up to the second and can really help a lot.
We got back home and I sent out my complaints to Delta for the ruined luggage and to Thrifty for the dishonesty regarding my charges on my credit card. One really neat thing did happen. Remember we got stuck staying in Albany at the Desmond Hotel? I told you I knew someone who worked there. She isn't just a restaurant manager, she is also a casting agent and talent scout. She got my daughter into the business at age four and just cast her in an upcoming DreamWorks Picture called "The Time Machine!" Funny, I just read the book and then saw the information about HG Wells in The Timekeeper at Magic Kingdom! So, getting stuck for the night at the hotel and leaving a note saying hello sure paid off! It made her think of us when they started casting the movie. If you all go see the movie, Georgie is a Victorian Ice Skater in the park.
Have a great Disney Day! We aren't going back until January. We are staying at Fort Wilderness Cabins, and we are starting the planning now! We will be taking Georgie's best friend Dallas with us this time. (We took her when the girls were five.)
Thank you to all the fabulous people who wrote their awesome trip reports! They were great reading and helped us so much! I apologize to any reader who stuck through this whole thing! It's more for me to reminisce! Thanks all!
Wendy Jordan
January 4-11th.
Cast Members
Wendy - Age 28, mother of Georgie, wife of David. Certifiable Disney Fanatic! 6th Trip to Disney. Trip planner, meal maker and lover of all things Disney.
David - Age 30, father of Georgie, husband of Wendy. 6th Trip to Disney. Also big Disney fan, especially Tigger and Eeyore. Does the driving and usually carries the heavy stuff.
Georgie- Age 8. Fifth trip to Disney. This was a surprise trip, she was just a LITTLE excited!
Where we stayed-Offsite at Magic Castle Inn & Suites on Route 192.
Background Information
This was our 3rd Trip to the most magical place on earth this year. We went in late January last year (sorry no trip report for that one.) We went again in September (my trip report is on this site!) We decided to try and squeeze one more trip in with our fast passes quickly going kaput on January 11. :( Since we stayed on property (All Star Movies) last January, and half on, half off (Fort Wilderness Homes and Magic Castle on 192) in September we had to make a few cutbacks. We stayed at Magic Castle Inn & Suites for 6 nights. This is a great, inexpensive place to stay. What it lacks in, shall we say ambience, it certainly makes up for in price ...$39.95 per night! It also comes equipped with microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator. This is for the mini suites. I believe for a few dollars less you can get the standard room that only has the fridge. Go for the mini suite! It has a room divider, king sized bed and pull out couch. Much more comfortable after a long day at the parks. We missed staying on property but the bonus was this...we were at DISNEY!!!!! Yippee!
Travel Plans
Well since we were able to convince ourselves that we HAD to go back...those AP's were in our top dresser drawer just begging to be used, we had to make quick plans. We convinced our boss that we needed a week off. She said yes! We work together so it makes it easier to get the same days off. First we decided to drive down from Schenectady, NY; which wasn't something we looked forward to, but was more in our budget. We try to do it all in one day. We usually leave at 1am and get to our hotel around 11pm that night. It's not as bad as it sounds! You definitely have to be a fan to want to do it though! We made reservations with National Rental Car through Travelocity.com. Gas prices are still really high here so we were worried about that, but we figured it was in our budget. I searched for flights from Albany Airport, but the cheapest I could find anywhere were $158 and after flying in September at only $436 total for four people round trip I refused to pay that price. I searched all the travel sites and still found nothing.
I called Magic Castle Inn & Suites and made reservations for January 5th (very late arrival) thru January 11th. If you mention the internet rate you get the suites for $39.95. With that taken care of I decided to keep searching for plane tickets. Travelocity.com has a really neat "Fare Watcher" button so I let them know they could notify me when the flights went down about $30. WELL!!!!!! Surprise and Merry Christmas to me! They went down to $98 per person round trip!!! The bonus here is that it's cheaper than driving, we don't need the hotel on the way back (we drive straight down but always stop to rest on the way back) and we get a whole full extra day at the parks. We have to leave on the fourth at 8:20 pm from Albany Airport. I ordered three and then searched for the rental car we would now need in Florida. I ended up finding a great rate at Thrifty on Travelocity.com for $84.88 for a week. Their week is actually only 6 days, and since we are getting there at 1am we had to pay for a seventh. $34.88 for the extra day, which seems like highway robbery to me with the first six days being so much better of a deal! It was off airport, with a shuttle. NOT something I wanted, but the price was right. I won't do it again, more on that later!
Everything is all set. The dogs, rabbit and hamster are being taken care of by my Aunt Karen. For those of you who read my last report, she is blind and has a guide dog named Gwen. We took her with us in September. She does dog boarding and said it would be $80 for the week plus 1 day. It's nice to have family in the pet boarding business! We normally board at a kennel but I hate the thought of them being cold! The four kitties will fend for themselves with self-feeders and a visit from Uncle Timmy to change litter and do refills. Lucky Tim!
Now its countdown time! Georgie is finishing up her play and she is getting ready for a performance on New Years Eve. We have those things to keep our minds off counting the seconds!
The play is over and New Years is done, Dave has begun an hourly countdown!
Thursday-January 4th.
We got up on time and I have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Don't know if it's nerves or a virus. UGH! We leave home at 7pm tonight for the airport. Nana & Pop-Pop are picking us up and we have HOURS to go! I don't know if I can make it! Dave and I have several meetings for work today so that keeps us busy. Georgie has schoolwork to do and because we told her we were going to Tennessee to visit "old people" she is not showing any real excitement. We have totally kept her out of the planning of this trip. It's going to be a complete surprise. Everyone else knows we are going...I don't know how we managed to do it! She ended up getting $50 in Disney $$$'s from friends for Christmas and thinks she has to wait until after we get back from Tennessee to spend it at the Disney Store. She is only looking forward to the plane trip, but we told her the actual trip would be boring and no fun at all. She would have to sit quietly while we visited and that was it. Poor kid!
Nana and Pop-Pop showed up and we headed out to the airport. We are running a little late when I realize I have no I.D.! Turned around and headed home, grabbed the I.D. and booked it to the airport. We only live about 15 minutes away but the flight leaves at 8:20 and its now about 7:50! We made it to the Delta counter with only a few minutes to spare. JUST to be informed that our flight was GASP-Cancelled due to a door that wouldn't close properly. C'mon can't they tape it or something! :) I was really upset, our ride had left and they can't get us on a flight until Friday at 6am. The Delta counter representative now says to Georgie "Don't worry you will make it to Orlando in plenty of time to see Mickey Mouse." Georgie gives her a blank look and then say's "But we are going to Tennessee." SURPRISE! Georgie didn't believe us at first but when she realized we were on our way to Disney she just about freaked out!
They put us up at the Desmond, the nicest hotel around. Bonus here is that I know the restaurant manager so I left her a brief note and said hello. Georgie and Dave went swimming. I ordered a pizza for them thru room service and called our hotel and rental car offices to let them know we needed to make arrangements for later check in's and pick ups. There was no problem. Since we were supposed to arrive at MCO at 1:15 I knew we wouldn't make it to the parks until very late morning anyway and this way we would get a whole nights sleep. EXCEPT we are now flying to Cincinnati first which adds 2 hours to our trip. Yuck. At least it will save us a night at the hotel and rental car! We watched ER and fell asleep around 11:30. It was tough getting Georgie to sleep, she was so excited. She was a little put out when she said, "But Mommy, everyone still thinks we are going to Tennessee. They will be worried." When I told her EVERYONE knew except her she was kind of disgusted!
Friday, January 5th
We woke really early and got the shuttle to the airport (after Dave made coffee.) We checked in at the Delta Counter at 5am and checked our luggage. After bagels, coffee and yogurt at the airport café we boarded and were able to sit together. With the rescheduled flight we weren't guaranteed this! The flight was really smooth and we arrived at Cincinnati ahead of schedule. WOO Hoo! A Disney Store! Did a little window shopping and had to check in and see if we could get seats together. Still not a problem! The flight was delayed 1/2 hour (so much for that ahead of schedule business) due to a heat valve not opening up. They got that fixed and we were on our way. The plane was much larger and we were seated in the center section in front of the movie screen. They played some boring CNN stuff and then an episode of Spin City. We listened to a little Broadway music on our headsets...which Georgie loved. We actually arrived at MCO a little ahead of schedule. Go figure. It was 60 degrees and sunny. Not bad, it was about 17 degrees in NY! We headed to pick up our luggage...it was broken and covered in grease. Absolutely filthy...Delta is getting a letter! I am not going to worry about it now, although one of the bags can't even be pulled now! We are here!
We got the shuttle to Thrifty and they gave us an upgrade. Made a big deal out of it...c'mon we know its because you ran out of the little cars. They asked us if we wanted the extra insurance and we said no. They charged us anyway. We went back and fixed it and we were in Magic Kingdom parking lots at 12:30!
Have you ever seen anything as beautiful as the Ticket and Transportation center on a sunny Florida day? Hopped the monorail and walked under the tunnel! WE ARE HERE! It was kind of cold and we were a little beat. We got espresso's and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. This is my all time favorite ride. It's pure Disney Magic! We walked around a little while, went to Alien Encounter (Georgie made it thru with very little trouble) and then watched the afternoon parade. Lines were long for everything due to the marathon. Georgie was picked to dance with the Aladdin float! We headed to the ferryboat to check in at the hotel. Got to Magic Castle, made some dinner and headed to Epcot. This is my absolute favorite park. The music alone is worth the ticket price! We went to Ice Station Cool and set up to women..."Really, try the Beverly, its SO GOOD." We ran...quickly and headed to World Showcase. Tee hee! All the Christmas lights were still on. It was beautiful. We basically just walked the showcase, got Fish & Chips from United Kingdom, walked back to Morocco and watched the Tapestry of Nations parade. It was so beautiful! Dave is having some tummy trouble (I think it's the pizza from last night!) Oh well, Georgie and I got all the fish & chips! We headed to Canada, got a beaver tail and walked to Mouse Gear. Bought the millennium CD and a Cinderella figurine playset for Georgie. We left and went to Publix on corner of 535 and 192 for beer, wine, soda, milk and a cheese ball for crackers. Back at the ol' homestead we unpacked and fell into bed.
Saturday, January 6th
We went to Magic Kingdom after having breakfast (comes with the room!) Got FP's for Splash Mountain and watched the Christmas Country Bear Jamboree! SO CUTE! Glad they still had it up! Got Minnie Ears headband for Georgie while Dave got FP's for Haunted Mansion. Did Splash Mountain. No line for Fastpass! We got drenched, but we got the front and second row so we finally got a good picture! Bought the picture and did a little gift shop browsing. Ate some sandwiches we brought and Dave got FP's for Peter Pan. Went on Haunted Mansion (got the chubby faced ghost) and then went on It's A Small World. About a five minute (if that) wait. Just as a note, don't bother getting a FP for anything that has a ten minute wait or less. They overestimate all waits, so you are doing just as good standing in the standby line. We stopped for a potty break and a snack and went on Peter Pan. All FP's were only about an hour separation so it was almost like, get FP's, go into line for ride, get off and go on FP ride! It was working out well. I finally got the picture of Wendy on the plank (I hope) and we went and got FP's for Winnie the Pooh. We watched the Lion King show and then headed to Toon Town to meet Cinderella and Ariel. Ariel was inside today because it was chilly outside. We didn't get an autograph book this time. Georgie has gotten just about everyone anyway. She spent the time talking with the characters instead. It was very nice. While waiting in line to meet the character a little girl about three or four starting saying "Excuse me, excuse me, I am trying to get up there to meet my mother. I can't find her, I think she's in this line." Now we figured there was NO WAY a child that small would be in the store alone while her mother was in line. Dave said "I bet her mother comes 'searching' for her in about a minute." Well surprise, surprise, Mommy 'thinks' her little girl might have walked into this line. She just had to find her! What do you think they did...yup...butted ahead! Scammers! C'mom people just get in line and don't lie! How sad. It was obvious that this little girl must be well trained and did this for every long line.
We got FP's for Buzz and went on Winnie the Pooh. I love the bouncing Tigger and floating water parts. We met Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee outside Teacups. A family tried to butt in front of everyone and pretended not to speak English. The cast member with the characters made them go to the end of the line. It was priceless! Boy oh boy could they speak English then! We walked over to Carousel of Progress just as a show was starting. I've seen it tons of times and still love it. We watched a band in Tomorrowland and Georgie got to limbo with them. Went on Buzz...Dave got a TON of points. Went to Main Street and bought a golf socks with Mickey for Uncle Timmy and a Tigger golf hat for Dave. Let me tell you, the hot dogs at Casey's smell so good! I am not a hot dog fan, but that smell was great!
We went to the hotel, had dinner and went to Downtown Disney Westside to see Castaway with Tom Hanks. Georgie did "You've got Mail" with him a few years ago, so we have a soft spot! AMC is the best theater! I love the seats and the prices are actually cheaper than here at our mall! The movie was great too! We went to Marketplace afterwards and shopped around at WOD. Georgie got a stuffed Bambi and a bunch of wind up dancing Princess/Prince toys. We went to Legoland, Ghiardelli's for some chocolate squares and then back to hotel.
Sunday-January 7th
Had breakfast (love those Krispy Kreme donuts!) Headed to MGM and got FP's for Rock and Roller Coaster, did TOT 2 times! No waits! Dave ran and got FP's for Indy. We went on Rock and Roller Coaster. A mother lied to her little girl at RnR and told her it didn't go upside down, just side to side and up and down. I mentioned that she might want to take off her glasses. Glad the little girl wasn't in our set of limo's! Poor thing. Went to Beauty & The Beast show. Sat on the left side of the theater, I liked it from that side. If I sit on the right I tend to watch the signers. They are just as entertaining as the show!
Stopped at candy shop (next to Villians) and bought Rice Krispie treat for Dave and Pear & Tutti Fruitti Jelly Bellies for Georgie and I. Got FP's for Little Mermaid and went on the Great Movie ride and then went to Indy. The show was very good. We are all into movies and theater so it was fun seeing how they do the effects. We went over to Little Mermaid and then met Mulan! Georgie told her she was dancing to Reflection in her dance recital. Mulan asked her to show her some of it. Well Georgie is really working on her shyness (yeah right) and proceeds to start dancing. I had to drag her away so other kids could meet her!
We got a couple of espresso's and Georgie played in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. Dave played a little too while I snapped pictures. We met a Green Army Man and did Muppet Vision 3D. I don't think the effects are as good for this as they are for Bugs Life but it is still a favorite. Sweetums didn't come out until the very end and the rabbit said "Hi Sweetums" to him. Weird. We watched the Mulan parade, it is very good. The costumes are incredible. Mulan waved to Georgie and then remembered Georgie and waved again and winked. Magical Moment!
We stopped at one of the stores and ended up splurging on zip up sweatshirts for Dave and I. $40 a pop but it was cold out! We headed to the hotel for dinner and went back to MGM. Did TOT two more times. We have this thing about making funny faces when they snap your picture. We did "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." We also did the Dr. Evil/Austin Powers pinky thing. Saw the Osborne Family lights. WOW! They are incredible. The snow on NY Street was neat, but I have seen enough of it here in NY! :) We met Santa Goofy and Rudolph Pluto afterwards.
We left and headed to Epcot. Did Spaceship Earth with no wait at all. Called Nana and Pop-Pop from the AT&T family phone and then went to Ice Station Cool. Love that Smart Watermelon. I keep trying Beverly, I keep hating it too! No offense, but do Italian's have tastebuds? Went on Mexico ride, got a fabulous five flavor frozen margarita. Went to China and got the egg roll everyone talks about. They were SO good!
We watched some of Tapestry of Nations and bought a pretzel in Germany. They are so much softer than the kind you buy here. Georgie got glazed pecans in America and we went to Morocco and tried the tangerine tart. TRY IT! Watched some of Illuminations and walked out with the crowd. Went to Publix and got lettuce, contact solution and cushion inserts for my sneakers. In bed by 11 and didn't move until the alarm went off at 7am.
Monday, January 8th
Headed to Epcot and closed the place! It was much warmer today. 70 degrees but cloudy. The rest of the week had freezing temps at night but about 55-60 during the day. We didn't expect to spend the whole day but we were having so much fun we didn't realize what time it was. Dave went and got FP's for Test Track and we went to Innovention's. Sent a few D-Mails and played Mickey Tag.
We went to Test Track, it RAINED and we got splattered outside. Was actually kind of fun! We went to Wonder's of Life pavilion because of the rain. Georgie and Dave did Body Wars (makes me sick) and I played around with the stuff there. I caught the end of Anacomical Players. We ate our sandwiches, apples and cookies and left for the other side of Future World. It was still raining.
Stopped and got Mickey Bars and talked with a CM from NY. We went to Living Seas and separated so Dave could watch the movie while Georgie and I went to the Hydrolators. He thinks the movies are great, I think if you see them once, you've seen them. I know, I'm terrible! We checked out the manatees and Georgie pretty much fell in love with them. Met up with Dave and went to the top of the Manatee tank to watch them feed and see the presentation. They are so cute! Georgie bought a stuffed manatee toy for $6.00 and named it Shelley. She gets very attached to stuffed animals.
We went to The Land, saw Food Rocks and got some espresso's. Georgie even got one! Half actually. At $1.70 they are the cheapest we found on Walt Disney World property. We went on Journey Into Imagination, it was cute, but needs more Figment! I loved the surprise ending when they show you what your imagination looks like! POW! I know some people don't like this attraction, but I did. It was cute. We loved the area outside the ride. Sent a lot of funny photo emails back home! We checked out the Make your Own CD station but we already have a lot of the music so we passed. The glass photo cubes were really neat! Might get one of those next time we go. We went to Honey I Shrunk the Audience and lucked into the center section, center of the row. The effects were fabulous.
We headed to Canada, got a messy strawberries and whipped cream beavertail and Georgie started her Kidcot Mask. I love the Kidcot centers. Free, fun and the kids get to do a little playing. I saw a new Diana Barry doll I liked from Anne of Green Gables. It was about $50 and I want it! I am going to check on it thru the Internet.
We went to UK, did Kidcot and got a beer at the Rose and Crown pub. Headed to France but Kidcot was closed. Later found out it had moved indoors. We stopped in Morocco, did Kidcot (love the tilework here) and then headed to Japan.
Georgie did the Japan Kidcot with a CM from Texas! We spent a lot of time there, it's one of our favorite countries. I bought some awesome chopsticks with a matching box (I use chopsticks a lot.) At $4.50 they make a very inexpensive gift and they have a million to choose from. We then checked out the Hello Kitty section. Georgie has her eye on everything there! We spoke with a Japanese woman about how to make sushi, and then Georgie discovered the pearls in the oysters! She had to get one of course! She picked one out and then the woman opened it and she got a 7 1/4 mm pearl! That means it's big enough to beat the drum! Georgie was thrilled! We had it packaged up and are going to have a necklace made for her 9th birthday this summer. It is around $15 to do the oyster and it is a lot of fun! Much better than spending the money on yet another stuffed animal!
We did Kidcot at Italy and Germany and then watched the masked Kings and Queens in Italy for a while. What are they? Maybe I am showing my country stupidity here, but I have no idea what these people are, they just kind of walk around and pose for pictures. They don't talk and there were no CM's to ask. Pretty though! We did America Kidcot but skipped the American Adventure for another day. Went to Norway, did Maelstrom, and then stopped at the Kringla Bakery. Got coffee, a delicious cream horn and a chocolate dipped almond cookie.
Went to Mexico Kidcot and had nacho's and Coke. The nacho's at the cantina are absolutely awesome! They are big enough for a meal or great to split between everyone. At $5.75 they are also a great deal!
We went to China, did Kicot, saw a little bit of the child acrobat's, went to France for some Chardonay and did Kidcot. Georgie has now finished the mask and got all the country stamps! It only took a few hours to get them all and she had so much fun! What a nice souvenir. I saw a lot of parent's not letting their kids finish theirs and I felt bad for them. This park is not just about rides!
We went to the United Kingdom, got Fish & Chips and watched Tapestry of Nations. At this point we realized that Georgie had lost "Shelley" her little manatee. It was sticking out of her backpack a little (so it could breathe!) She is devastated and starts to cry. :( Poor baby! Especially since it was HER money! The zipper was really tight around Shelley's head so we think someone must have wanted Shelley really badly.
We watched the British Invasion. Georgie told them they were almost as good as The Monkees. She has a fascination with them! They said "We learned everything we know from Davy Jones." Georgie just doesn't get it!
We headed back to Future World while miss sour puss is still pouting. It is a stuffed animal for goodness sakes! But we have been dealing with such calamity for eight years and realize that unless she gets another Shelley to love she will "Never be the same." She is a bit dramatic at times! I took her to the other side of Innoventions while Dave snuck over to Living Seas for the $35.00 HUGE manatee. We are complete suckers aren't we??? We played with some of the neat computer stuff and then Daddy surprises her with the new "Shelley!" Almost as big as her and it weighs a lot! Georgie was on cloud nine!
We sent email postcards to family and friends and watched the Xerox presentation. I know it's all a big commercial but I really enjoy it. Got a free photo calendar of Georgie and the manatee. Very cute. Finally headed out. Somehow I had gotten a tiny tear in my sneaker and with all the rain I had been squishing from place to place all day. We stopped at Payless and bought new sneakers for me. We did a little laundry and were in bed by 11:00.
Tuesday, January 9
Alarm went off at 7 am. We showered and had breakfast. Off to Animal Kingdom. I like this park a lot, but it lacks the magic of the rest of Disney in my opinion. I think it will take a little more time for them to get everything honed perfectly. The tree is gorgeous of course! I stopped at Guest Relations while Georgie and Dave met with some of the stilt birdmen. I made PS's for Chef Mickey's on Thursday morning and joined them thru the gates.
We split up so Dave could get our FP's for Dinosaur and then Georgie and I wandered around the tree and gardens while we waited for Dave. One of the CM's took Georgie's picture in front of the tree. We met up with Dave and went into It's Tough to Be a Bug. We had to wait for the next show to start and we got seats midway back, right in the center. The trick for center seats is to let people in ahead of you and then you usually end up center. It was cute. I got stung and Georgie still swears a bug crawled up her pant leg!
We split up again so Dave could get our Safari FP's. We met Tigger and he made a big deal about Georgie's Tigger hairbow. We stopped at the restroom and I noticed the bugs crawling all over the walls! Actually these are cute tiles...I love the extra touch!
We met Dave and went on Dinosaur. I really like this ride, but wish they had kept the name Countdown to Extinction because it makes it sound better! We got on right away. There was actually no wait on either side at all. CM's were waiting for us! We headed to the gift shop because my favorite sunglasses were broken on the ride. No luck, everything is Nascar. What is going on with that?
We got a Simba's Paw ice cream for Georgie and headed to the Safari. Our guide was very good and used a lot of humor. We saw a lot of animals, weather was cold and there was steam coming out of a lot of weird places. Must be heat.
We headed to Camp Minnie Mickey but the Lion King show had just gotten out so the lines for the characters were awful. We met Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit and headed to the Dinoland Boneyard. Georgie loves this part of the park! We let her go inside for awhile and stayed at the exit. If you have an older child keep in mind that there is only one entrance/exit and if you park yourself next to it you can rest while they run around. Dave and I went in and Dave went down a twisty slide with Georgie. He is 6 foot 3 and banged his knees all the way down. I personally thought it was kind of funny. He saw no humor in growing up!
We stopped to purchase Georgie's pic in front of the tree. One of the bonuses about this trip are that the pictures are now cheaper. You can get them in 5x7 for $10. We bought almost all the pictures this time! Dave headed over to Africa and bought a Potato Volcano while Georgie and I went to the bathroom and went to the entrance to see the animals. The Potato Volcano turned out to be mashed red potatoes with salsa, ground beef, cheese, sour cream and green onions. It was very yummy and comes in a big plastic ice cream soda kind of cup. It was really neat to see and tasted great! I am sort of disappointed in the choice of foods at AK. I would like to see more ethnic variety. Most of it is safe grilled chicken and mac & cheese. Not everyone is afraid of new things!
We headed over to MGM and got FP's for RnR. Went on ToT times in a row! We did muscleman poses and pretended to be REALLY scared for these pictures! :) Next time I think we will bring a magazine to "read" while we get our pics taken. The drops changed every time and we rode all the elevators. None of them were the same. It was great! We got our afternoon espresso's and then went to Anaheim Produce for a big pickle. We meant to get fruit but Georgie saw the pickle. Espresso and pickles are kind of gross!
We went on RnR and then stopped in the Villain's gift shop. Dave went to the bathroom and while there decided to call the credit card company. ??? Don't know why, he said he had a "feeling." Well it turns out the dimwit at Thrifty not only charged are credit card $272, he also charged it a weird authorization fee (which you have to agree to) and then just "fixed" a new receipt for us! What a liar! We were livid! We can't do anything about it now, but we plan to! I'd like to make that guy sit on a boat in IASW for ten or twelve hours! Well to make up for his mistake we treated ourselves to The Nightmare Before Christmas movie CD...it's great by the way! We also picked up Sorcerer Mickey notecards that said "Nana" on them for my grandmother who is a huge Mickey Mouse fan. We had a discussion with the CM who works at Villain's and asked him why poor Jack The Pumpkin King was in the villain shop. I don't agree that poor, misunderstood Jack is a villain. The Oogie Boogie Man yes, but not my Jack! I met another Nightmare fan at Villain's and we discussed how wonderful the movie is.
We went on the Great Movie Ride again (my fave) and sat in the absolute last row of the second tram. I liked this a lot. We saw the Munchkin's sing goodbye and we have never seen that before. After that we went to see Doug Live. Georgie has been dying to get picked to be Quail Kid but still no luck! There were two early twenties men sitting next to us who were either HUGE Doug Live fans or are actually performers in the show. They sang along and new all the lines. It made it really fun. Doug has a fabulous voice and it is one of my favorite shows. We didn't see it in September, but Roger and Patty were the same people we saw in January. Patty is awesome, and is almost exactly like the actual cartoon! I didn't care for the dog/actor though, he didn't get into enough for me. We are really into theater and this guy just didn't have it in my humble opinion. Maybe playing a dog isn't his cup of tea, but I need to buy that he is "really" a dog!
We went and did Drew Carey's Sounds Dangerous. I really wish I had brought Aunt Karen to see this show in September. She is blind and would have gotten a lot out of this attraction. When the killer bees are let out of the jar you actually flinch. I had to take off my headset when they started cutting my hair! Yikes!
We headed back to the room to check on the rental car situation. Then we headed to a Chinese buffet called Dragon Garden on 192. It was $9.99 per adult and $4.50 for Georgie. I wish we had just spent it on souvenirs and starved. YUCK! Don't waste your money. It was a rip off and tasted pretty yucky. I love Sushi and I was afraid to eat more than one piece. They were very rude too!
We headed to the Disney Marketplace and stopped at all the stores. Is the Pooh Store new since September? I don't remember it. We went to Disney at Home and got Mickey Mouse sheets for $39.95 king size. They were marked down from $79.95! The twin size were only $19.95! We also picked up a set of king sized matching pillows for $12.95 marked down from $29.95. They come in their own matching cloth cases. We went to Ghiardelli's and got hot chocolates all around and split a Cable Car Sundae. We headed back to the room and watched a movie on TNT with the girl from Sabrina. In bed by 10:30.
Wednesday, January 10
Last full day at Disney. :( We actually slept in until 8 and made it to the Magic Kingdom at around 10:15. Parked in Grumpy and hopped on the monorail. We split up and Dave got FP's for Space Mountain. Georgie and I went to Exposition Hall where we met Happy and Cruella DeVille. She was very interested in Georgie's furry Minnie Mouse Ears! Then we met with Dave at Merlin's Sword in the Stone.
We went on Snow White (five minute wait) and FINALLY saw Mickey's shorts on the laundry line. We didn't know it was there! I kept looking somewhere else!
We walked over to Tomorrowland and saw the Timekeeper. It was excellent! I highly recommend it! They mention the book called The Time Machine which I just finished reading by HG Wells. That was kind of neat...getting a look at the "author" of the book! I think everyone should see this show, but see it early when your feet don't hurt because you stand. Robin Williams does one of the voices and he is so funny!
We got FP's for Buzz and headed to Space Mountain. I can only do this ride once a trip. It makes my tummy ache! I love it though and Georgie and Dave are big fans! We made a postcard picture in the game room at the exit of Space Mountain and then went on TTA. Had our sandwiches and apples! I like the length of this ride and its neat how smooth it rides. Most people skip it, but DON'T, its perfect for a rest.
Our FP's were ready for Buzz and we went right on. Our Space Ranger spinner didn't work at all so Georgie who was up ahead said she would "play for you guys" and she racked up the whopping 1600 points for me and 1200 for Dave. Woo hoo! She doesn't know that isn't that many points.
Georgie and I headed to Toon Town while Dave got us FP's for Pooh. We wanted to see who else was in the face character line, but it was still Cinderella and Ariel who we met earlier. We waited for Dave and got in the Winnie the Pooh line. There was almost no wait and before we knew it we were hugging Eeyore, Winnie and Tigger!
We took the train around to Frontierland and went on Pirates of the Caribbean. It was a complete walk on. Almost empty boat. After that we checked the times for the Diamond Horseshoe Saloon show and noticed that the Country Bear was down so they could "un-decorate."
We headed to Haunted Mansion and got FP's and then went on Winnie the Pooh. We passed Lumiere's and a gull swooped down and stole a bowl of ice cream right out of some poor man's hand! We told him to go back and tell them what happened and they would give him another one! We went on Pooh and when we got off we noticed the guy was UNDER the awning this time! It was about 5 minutes for the fast pass line, the standby was a whopping 90 minutes! WHY? WHY? Why would you stand in that line...hello FASTPASS! I sure miss Mr. Toad! Please Disney people, don't get rid of anything else! You have room to expand!
It was on to Casey's for a hot dog, fries and a milk for Georgie. Dave surprised Georgie with a pink Mickey Mouse balloon that she tied to her backpack. She looked so cute with her Princess sweatshirt, Minnie ears and balloon hanging from her backpack! Such a Disney kid!
We headed over the bridges to Liberty Square and saw Prince John, Friar Tuck and Liverlips McGraw from the Country Bear Jamboree. We also got the wonderful privilege of meeting the dumbest CM on the planet. He proceeds to tell Georgie that Belle is not a real princess. (Remember the Princess Sweatshirt?) She never married the beast after he became a prince again. She just (are you ready for this?) lives with him in the castle! Now I know they don't show a wedding but we assume it happens! I said to CM that "We like to keep Disney G-Rated" but he just didn't take a hint. Another CM tries to shut him up, but he just kept talking! Anyway, he called Liverlips "Big Al" and then admits he "isn't sure" all of the characters names because he is new and has only seen CBJ once. Really? I never would have guessed! He was not Disney material at all. The boy could not take a hint! This guy was a few nickels short of a dollar!
We headed to Haunted Mansion and had a brief talk with Georgie about how Belle would never live with the prince before getting married to him. She stayed (with Mrs. Pott's supervision) when he was a beast, but once they fell in love and he became the prince again they got married. Georgie said "She wears a crown in the parade so they must have gotten married and that made her a princess!" Smart little kid!
There was no wait for HM and after that we went to the porch of Diamond Horseshoe Saloon and watched the afternoon parade. Georgie was picked to dance with the Lion King and with The Little Mermaid floats so now I believe she has been part of all of the parade. We went into the saloon and got a front table. We got coffees and Georgie got her pickle. She immediately dropped it on the floor (it was huge) and they gave us another one. I cut this one up! The Saloon is seriously one of the most forgotten shows at Disney! It is so much fun! I love it! Georgie was picked to be part of it last January and she was picked again this year by the singing cowboy! It was so cute! Then the magician came out and he picked her too! Now everyone has already been introduced to her so when he asked her name and where she was from everyone in the audience laughed! He didn't understand why at all! She got this great "Magical Moment" certificate that they put her name on. Someone was backstage typing it! She has determined that she wants to be on the saloon stage when she grows up! Ah, we are proud!
We went to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree and then got a Dole Whip. We had to pass the smoking section, ugh! We stopped to see the Dapper Dan's on Main Street and then headed to the hotel to get our jackets. It was very cold!
We headed to Epcot and stopped at Ice Station Cool then meandered around World Showcase. Got a Ringes beer in Norway and then walked to Italy and watched a juggler. We walked thru to France and got red wine, a ham & cheese crossaint and a huge, scrumptious napolean! We went to the UK and got Fish & Chips and then headed to America. Saw the American Adventure, got a turkey leg and watched Illuminations. I love the music! I can't wait to get that CD home! It was beautiful, a perfect way to end our last day at Disney. It was over and the crowds moved quickly. We dragged our feet! We are now officially Annual Passless. Boohoo! We went to the hotel, packed up and set our alarms for an early wakeup.
Thursday, January 11
Dave's alarm went off at 5:45, mine at 6am. We showered, finished packing and checked out. We threw away the broken suitcase (drat Delta!) and headed to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey's. We were worried we would have to pay for parking but we decided to hold up or AP's and they don't even look at the date. Waved us in and we were just minutes away from our traditional last morning breakfast with Mickey. Food was extra yummy and fresh. We had PS for 7:30 and the place was really empty. We got lots of attention from the characters! They kept sneaking up on Georgie. She really just wanted to meet Mickey Mouse and he snuck up and pushed her over on her chair so he could fit too! It was so cute! I took tons of pictures, I'm so glad she still believes! We had the same waitress we had last January. She told us it is her 29th year! WOW! Her husband works at MGM and her daughter is in the ToN parade! GOOD NEWS for ToN fans! They have extended it another four years! Yeah! We think it's the most beautiful, moving parade at Disney!
We bought more Gourmet Mickey kitchen stuff for Dave's mom and then got my Pop-Pop a license plate cover for his new van and a picture frame for Aunt Karen. We said goodbye to Disney with tears and headed to 535 for gas. Went to 192 and picked up some towels for the boys we work with back home and headed for Thrifty. They fixed our credit card (gee thanks, a week late) and we informed them nicely that we would NEVER use their services again. I have already written them a letter of complaint. I feel a letter is better than wasting your time on an employee who can't really do anything.
We hopped the shuttle and saw the huge line at the Delta check in counter. We dropped our luggage with the skycaps-so worth the tip and headed to the two cute little round Disney stores! These are not the same as The Disney Store they have on the other side of the airport. They are actually Walt Disney World Merchandise. Needed just a few more things! Really we did! We got Mickey pretzels for Nana, Pop-pop and Aunt Karen, cookies for the boys, and the Official Disney Album for us. It's great by the way! We went to the other store and got a magnet and the only dancing wind up princess and prince we couldn't find at the parks. BELLE....seems Disney thinks she is a princess!
We bought a Pepsi and Dave checked with Delta to see if we could sit together! YES! I caught up on this report and Georgie and Dave read for a little while. Then we chatted with a family who had just gotten back from the Disney Cruise. We have got to try that!
The flight to Cincinnati was VERY bumpy. They never turned off the seatbelt light. Ugh! We got to the airport only to find that our flight was delayed to Albany. Seems someone got VERY sick on the plane earlier and when they cleaned it up they made it worse. They had to change the carpeting! It was about 1/2 hour and we were up in the air. The pilot made a funny comment about how he wanted to make sure it "Smelled OK" for us! Flight went quickly with very little turbulence.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The upside of this trip was that it was relatively inexpensive. We were able to schedule it very quickly and w/o too much hassle. Since this was our third trip in 356 days (making it 22 days at Disney this year) we had to make a few cutbacks. We brought our own food in a cooler, stayed off property which was magicless but necessary. We tried to save money with Thrifty but I will never, ever book a car off the airport again. It was inconvenient and took too much time. I prefer picking up the keys and just going! It was definitely not worth the savings!
We saved a lot of money on food by making our own and bringing a cooler with us. We stayed at a hotel that offered a breakfast with the room, fridge, microwave and coffeemaker. I premade dinners and froze them before we left in Ziplocs and airtight containers. We had spaghetti and meatballs, meatloaf, turkey and stuffing. We certainly didn't suffer. I just made regular dinners the week before we left and put servings for us in the freezer immediately. Because we were eating foods we were familiar with we didn't have the usual vacation tummy troubles that sometimes plague vacationers. We also packed most of our snacks, fruit, crackers, sandwich fixes, and veggies for salad. We froze a large water bottle every day (the insulated kind with a strap) to carry in the parks and only bought a drink once in Mexico. The only other beverages we bought were "wants" not needs!
One of the nicest things was the sharing of snacks. Because we bought one thing and shared it, we all got a taste and saved A LOT of money. We especially loved the fish & chips in the United Kingdom and got that every day. We also loved the beaver tails in Canada. Highly recommended. You don't fill up on junk either!
ALWAYS get fastpasses! When your time comes up for them go and get FP's for something else and then go on the ride you got the FP for first. This way you always have one waiting in the wings for you! Saves a lot of time!
Do something on your vacation that is not Disney related. For instance we went to AMC to see a movie. It made us remember we were on vacation, not just there to see Mickey Mouse again! It was also really nice to sit and rest.
Normally we suggest an afternoon rest but for some reason we didn't really need it this time. I think its because it was cool the whole time we were there. Sun can sap you of your energy and we didn't feel hot at all. Also, always pack for any kind of weather. We packed warm and cool clothes because we knew we might need it. Check the weather reports before you go online. They are up to the second and can really help a lot.
We got back home and I sent out my complaints to Delta for the ruined luggage and to Thrifty for the dishonesty regarding my charges on my credit card. One really neat thing did happen. Remember we got stuck staying in Albany at the Desmond Hotel? I told you I knew someone who worked there. She isn't just a restaurant manager, she is also a casting agent and talent scout. She got my daughter into the business at age four and just cast her in an upcoming DreamWorks Picture called "The Time Machine!" Funny, I just read the book and then saw the information about HG Wells in The Timekeeper at Magic Kingdom! So, getting stuck for the night at the hotel and leaving a note saying hello sure paid off! It made her think of us when they started casting the movie. If you all go see the movie, Georgie is a Victorian Ice Skater in the park.
Have a great Disney Day! We aren't going back until January. We are staying at Fort Wilderness Cabins, and we are starting the planning now! We will be taking Georgie's best friend Dallas with us this time. (We took her when the girls were five.)
Thank you to all the fabulous people who wrote their awesome trip reports! They were great reading and helped us so much! I apologize to any reader who stuck through this whole thing! It's more for me to reminisce! Thanks all!
Wendy Jordan