Heidi Commerford - November 2003- All Star Movies

Time of Year: Holiday
Travel Method: Plane, Rental car
Resort: ASMoR
Accommodations: Standard
Ages Represented in Group: Elementary, Adult
WDW Experience Represented in Group: Veteran
Comments: With this trip, Heidi and Jim are going to do to there kids what kids everywhere wish would happen. This trip is going to be a surprise, with the kids not knowing they're going to Disney World until it is time to leave.

Heidi Commerford -- November 2003 -- Walt Disney World (ASMoR)

This is Heidi's first trip report for MousePlanet.

The crew

Heidi- 36 - Stay at home Mom, Disney addict, two trips a year isn’t enough!
Jim- 39 - loves Disney and would rather vacation there then anyplace else!
Jimmy- 10- Loves everything about Disney from the atmosphere to all the rides. Master Pin trader!
Cameron- 7 - Loves Disney so much he sometimes cries at home because he is homesick to go back, also loves pin trading.
August: I made 3 priority seatings: Ohana’s, Le Celliers, and lunch at Cinderella’s Royal Table on Thanksgiving.

Nov. 14: Pretty much all packed including our largest suitcase which is full of food, tons of snacks and breakfast items. I estimate that suitcase will save us hundreds of dollars over the week. Although, I could buy the food in Orlando, it’s easier and cheaper for me to bring it from home.

Background: We have planned this whole trip as a surprise for Jimmy and Cameron. They have no idea we are going. We talk about Disney almost daily and for us it offers the perfect vacation! We did a surprise trip last Thanksgiving and it was a blast! At the time I said no more surprises, it’s too hard to keep a secret! However we couldn’t resist and decided to surprise them one more time. In the last 8 ½ years we have gone to Disney 10 times. 8 of the trips we have stayed at Fort Wilderness for two weeks in April. The other two have been at the ALL Stars. Have I mentioned that we love Disney! At this point the suspense is killing us and we can’t wait to tell the kids. They don’t think we’ll be back until April so they will be stunned when they hear the news.

Friday Nov. 21

The big day is here! Cameron cries out in his sleep at 1:30AM but quickly settles down. At 2:00 AM Espo (our cat) wakes up Jimmy. I bring Espo downstairs and attempt to go back to sleep. I am so excited and trying to sleep is useless. I laid in bed until 3:45AM and finally get up ( I had set the alarm for 4:30AM). I showered, packed up a snack bag, and checked to make sure our flight on Southwest from Manchester NH was on schedule. I woke the children up at 5:30AM and told them we needed to get ready for school. Jim had the camcorder set up to record the big moment of us telling them that NO they weren’t actually going to school but to Disney. Jim turned on the camcorder when he heard us coming down the stairs. The kids sat on the couch and I told them the big news. It was magical watching the disbelief wear off and the reality set in. They are thrilled to hear that we are staying at the ASMO and are hoping for the Mighty Ducks section. Both boys play hockey and fell in love with the Mighty Ducks theme last year when we stayed at the All Star Music Resort, next door.

Our 40 minute drive to the airport goes smoothly and we take off at 8:40AM. We arrived in Orlando at 11:10AM, earlier than expected. I guess all the turbulence pushed us right along as we weren’t supposed to arrive until 11:50AM. We got our luggage and need to remember to put something flashy on it since everyone else’s looks like ours! Short wait for the rental car and we were on our way.

Less than a 5 minute wait to check in. Our room wasn’t ready yet so we got some lunch in the food court. Jim had a Cuban Sandwich which was very good and I had a Fajita, it was ok, a bit greasy, probably wouldn’t get it again. The kids ate fries. Checked to see if the room was ready, it wasn’t, so we got the kids swimsuits so they could swim. At this point Jim couldn’t find his wallet and panics. Not sure why he panics as this is a common occurrence. Found the wallet and the kids went swimming. Cam keeps saying “I can’t believe we are at Disney” many times, as the reality has sunk in. Checked on our room again and it was ready. I “volunteered” to stay on my relaxing lounge chair enjoying the beautiful weather and watching my two wonderful boys swim and play while Jim parked the car near our building and carried all our luggage to the third floor of our building. Thanks Jim! We got the building that I requested, (Jim faxed down our request a few days ahead) the Dalmatians-third floor non-smoking. We wanted to be here so the kids would have a short walk to either pool. The kids swam for about an hour. We left the pool at 3:00PM, the same time they would have gotten out of school had we not planned the “surprise”. We met Jim and unpacked all our stuff and settled into our “home” for the next week.

We took the bus (15 minute wait) to the MK where we bought our AP’s. This is the first time we bought these and are very excited. We are coming back in April for 2 ½ weeks so they will get lots of use! We admired the 75 Mickey statues on display and took some pictures. We want to see them again. Inside the MK we separated to pin trade up Main Street. Jim and Jimmy took one side and Cam and I went the other. We met at the tip board. I was shocked to see there really weren’t any waits except for some Fantasyland rides.

We went to the Haunted Mansion and walked right in. We looked for and found the raven (the CM’s pet for luck), the broken window in the attic where the bride threw her wedding ring out of, and after much looking outside Jimmy found the ring embedded in the walkway. Jim and Jimmy went on Splash Mtn with a 5 min wait while I went with Cam to do pin trading. Cam wants no part of Splash Mtn. The drop looks too scary to him. He loves BTM but it is closed. We had a leisurely walk to Tomorrowland where we rode Space Mtn twice with a 15 min wait and Buzz Lightyear with a 3 min wait. Looked at our pictures in Buzz and hurried out to watch Tinkerbell make her flight from the castle. We waved to Tinkerbell and watched the new Wishes Firework show. Our view was obstructed by a large tree but we still enjoyed it. Left the park and caught a bus back to the All Stars. I brought the kids back to the room while Jim went to the food court and bought our dinner to bring back to the room. I had pork roast which was excellent and Jim had the salmon, which was also good. We were all tired, I was exhausted having been up since 2:00AM! It felt great to crawl into bed. We watched the video we took that morning when we surprised the kids. Then it was lights out.

Saturday Nov. 22

I woke up at 4:45 feeling completely rested. I showered then walked to the food court and got the kids some lemonade and Jim a coffee in our refillable mugs. I also filled up my water bottles with water. (The water in the room is disgusting) Everyone was up when I returned to the room. The kids were playing with their new Lego sets that I had brought from home. After getting their trading pins all ready we left the room at 7:10 to go to MGM. We waited 15 minutes for the bus to arrive and when it did there was standing room only. We hopped on and had a quick ride to MGM. We waited just a few minutes until they opened the gate. Upon going through the ticket gate Jimmy’s finger scan for the annual pass didn’t work. (What followed was the worst experience of the trip) He took his fingers off and put them back on several times. The CM told him he was doing it wrong so he did it several more times. It still didn’t work. Jimmy continued to try as the CM told him first he wasn’t squeezing hard enough and then told him that he was squeezing his fingers to hard! Jimmy must have repositioned his fingers 25 times all the while the CM was getting very annoyed and frustrated at him. I could see Jimmy just dying inside. Jimmy continued to try as the CM stood there and glared at him. Finally in an angry tone she told him to come through and tell her what his name was. He said, “Jimmy”, to which she asked his last name. He told her, all the while I know Jimmy felt like he was in serious trouble. After the CM checked his AP to make sure it was indeed the right name she told him it was his “lucky day” and he could go into the park!!!! Believe me we were not feeling “lucky”, we had just spent over $1,500.00 yesterday on AP’s and the first time we use them we are told we are “lucky” that we were allowed into the park!!! I was in a state of shock over how we had been treated. The whole incident left a sick feeling in my stomach. When we left the park 4 hours later I stopped at guest services and made a complaint about the incident. Hopefully the scan will work on the rest of the vacation, as Jimmy felt awful. The whole incident was shocking, you don’t expect that kind of treatment anywhere especially at Disney!

We all went to the Rock-n-Roller Coaster. Cam did not want to ride but with some encouragement he did. He had ridden it in April but didn’t care for it. He didn’t like it much this time either but said it was o.k. Jim and Jimmy went another 3 times while Cam and I got fast passes for the Tower of Terror and went pin trading. Cam got some great pins right in the gift shop of the RRC. Cam and I went on the Great Movie Ride before meeting up with Jim and Jimmy at the TOT. Jimmy and I went on with FP’s, this is one of my favorite rides at WDW. While we rode Jim and Cam went and got FP’s for Millionaire. We met after the ride and Jim and Jimmy went on the TOT with the other two FP’s while I brought Cam to do more pin trading. (Cam wants no part of TOT and I didn’t encourage it because I don’t think he would enjoy it very much) Afterwards we all went to the Millionaire show. At first Cam didn’t want to play along because he was afraid he would win and have to be in the hot seat!!! After I convinced him that that would be almost impossible he had fun with it. Jim’s name came up on the leader board, which was very exciting. The women who won the hot seat had been to the show over 300 times and it was her 11th time in the hot seat! The host even knew who she was, amazing! She didn’t win, and lost on the 32,000 dollar question.

After the show Jim and Jimmy rode the TOT one more time then the boys and I returned to the hotel while Jim went to the behind the scenes of the new Haunted Mansion movie. He said it wasn’t worth his time. Back at the hotel the boys shared some fries and I had a taco salad then we went to the pool. Only a couple people were in the pool so the kids almost had the place to themselves. They had fun swimming and playing around the Mickey statue that was squirting water. We returned to the room and relaxed before heading out.

We drove our car to the Crossroads to buy a cheap cooler (3.99) and some drinks for the room. (This is much cheaper than renting a fridge for 10.00 dollars a day) After making our purchases we drove to the Polynesian Resort. We went inside, enjoyed the Christmas decorations and the kids traded a few pins. Went out to catch the monorail to the MK. A monorail attendant was standing there with a lanyard on so the boys went to trade. Jimmy spotted two trades he wanted to make and the CM refused!!!! He said he would only let Jimmy do one trade because he wanted to save his “good” pins for other people. Huh!!! Disney prints out little cards with the pin trading rules and it clearly states that each guest can do two trades with each CM. Jimmy and Cam each made one trade, then I said I wanted to make a trade to. I then traded for the very pin that he had refused Jimmy. The CM didn’t like that but he couldn’t refuse me my trade, he did however make a comment that we had bought our pins at the Disney store. I said “that’s right we did” Who cares the guy was acting like a jerk! (My boys LOVE to trade pins, it’s a fun hobby for them. They don’t do it to make money like some of the collectors do. This hobby has really helped them be more outgoing because they are both pretty quiet and shy) Hard to believe that twice in one day Jimmy encountered probably the only two mean CMs on all of Disney property! (I have to mention that the kids traded pins all week and this never happened again. They approached 100’s of CMs and every one of them were gracious and friendly. Many of them even thanked my boys for trading)

Arrived at the MK and got right in. We went into the Tiki Room. I had never cared for the original show and had never seen the new version so this was a first. We all enjoyed it. Next we went to the Country Bear Jamboree, it was the Christmas version, which we had seen last year. It was great as usual. The CM working the show sat down next to me and sang and clapped throughout the show. A happy guy who obviously enjoys his job! After the show we walked over to the new Mickey’s Philharmagic. We LOVED it!! Best 3-D movie on property!! Superior effects!! Can’t wait to see it again!! Caught a quick ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (it’ll always be the Wedway to me) before going to Main Street to see the Wishes fireworks show. We had a perfect view this time and just loved the whole presentation. I could watch this show every night!

We made our way out to the monorail. The monorail was delayed then when it arrived it was almost full so we all crowded in like sardines. A man next to me was reviewing his video of the Wishes show so I watched a bit of that. Got the car at the Polynesian Resort and drove back to our resort. Jim went and bought our dinner at the food court to bring back to the room. I got ice for the new cooler and put the drinks in and then repacked the backpack for tomorrow. The kids organized their pins and played with Lego’s. Jim returned with dinner, I had the pork roast again which was excellent. We were in bed a little after 9:00. Heading to MK in the morning for early opening.

Sunday Nov. 23

We were all awake around 6:00, so plenty of time for everyone to shower and be ready by 7:00. We caught the second bus to the MK at 7:20. As we pulled away from the resort we saw 10 hot air balloons. That was pretty neat to see so many! Arrived at the M.K and Jimmy’s AP didn’t work again. The CM was really nice and just waved him through. A big relief after the ordeal we went through yesterday! We went straight to Space Mountain and walked right on. This is one of Cam’s favorite rides although we all enjoy it. We were going to take a second ride but when we came out the line was way back to the Astro Orbitors! (Or for you old timers the Star Jets) We waited a few minutes but when the line didn’t move we hurried over to Buzz Lightyear. A 10 minute wait then we were saving the galaxy! When we finished the ride Jim and Jimmy headed to Splash Mountain which they rode two times. Cam and I rode the teacups and Winnie the Pooh. Cam also did some pin trading before we headed to Toon Town when it opened at 10:00. We got in line for the Barnstormer and were delighted to see Chip, Dale, and Max taking a ride, how fun! We were in the second coaster for the day. When we got off we met Jim and Jimmy and the four of us took another ride before leaving Toon Town. I want to mention that the MK is jam packed, probably the most crowded I’ve ever seen it especially for so early in the day! The three boys headed to ride Buzz with FP’s and I went and got us FP’s for Mickey’s Philharmagic. While the boys were in Tomorrowland they did some pin trading, Cam was pouting that Jimmy traded for a pin he wanted. The CM noticed this and let Cam trade for a pin that was in his pocket, which turned out to be an exclusive cast member pin. Very exciting for Cam but now poor Jimmy is dying for his own exclusive pin. This is probably unlikely as they have made hundreds and hundreds of trades and that has never happened before. We all met up again and shared two hotdogs and two lemonade slushes, both were very good. Afterwards we watched The Carousel of Progress, which we all enjoyed. After the show we used our FP’s for Mickey’s Philharmagic. We loved it the second time just as much as the first. I imagine it is destined to become a family favorite. At this point it is 12:30 and we head out of the park. We only waited a couple of minutes for the bus and were soon back at the ASMO.

The kids spread out all their pins to check them out and played with Legos before we went to the pool. This time we went to Mighty Ducks pool. This is why we like the 101 Dalmatians building because it is right between both pools so a short walk to both. There were only a few people in the pool so it was pretty quite. After swimming we relaxed in the room a bit before catching a bus to Epcot. We waited a long time for the bus, 25 minutes. It was frustrating because while we waited we saw two buses each for every resort including Downtown Disney, but no Epcot bus. Finally the bus arrived and we were on our way. Jimmy and I were in the backseat and Cam was a few seats in front of us with Jim standing nearby. Apparently Cam fell asleep right before we reached Epcot. Jim didn’t realize that and hopped off when the bus stopped. The people between Cam and me noticed he was sleeping and thought he looked so cute. One guy said “Buster wake up, we are here!” Cam sat right up and was looking around as he woke up. He didn’t even realize he had fallen asleep.

At Epcot the finger scan didn’t work but the CM was very sweet and waved Jimmy through. She thought Jimmy’s fingers were to short! While Jim checked out the tip board the boys and I went to Ice Station Cool. Since the kids and I don’t drink any carbonated drinks we’ve never spent much time there except a quick walk through. I filled the kids in on how I had read about how terrible the drink Beverly is. We poured a full cup of the stuff for Jim and when he arrived I gave it to him saying how great I’d heard it was. He had a nice mouthful and had no reaction at all for 8-9 seconds then the taste hit him! He hurried to get a different drink in his mouth while we had a good laugh! We had a PS at Le Cellier at 5:00 so we headed over there. We were given a beeper but were seated in 5 minutes. Our waiter was very good. I had the cheddar cheese soup, which I had read so much about. Jim had some salmon cakes and he said they were very good. For the main course I had the surf and turf special, steak and lobster tail. Jim had the filet mignon. While we enjoyed our meals neither one of us thought our steak was any better than what we get at our local Applebees or 99 restaurant. Same for the lobster, nothing special. The kids enjoyed their hotdog kids meals. Their milk was served in a nice plastic cup.( now that we are home they use those cups everyday) So while the meal was fine it was nothing special and WAY overpriced!

We made the whole circuit around World Showcase. We enjoyed all the Christmas decorations, especially the huge gingerbread house in America. We watched the American Adventure, one of my favorite things in all of Disney. I can’t watch the movie at the end without getting goose bumps. The boys had their picture taken with the living statue in Italy. The statue grabbed Jimmy by the shirt and wouldn’t let go, strong statue!! We all rode the Maelstrom. For some reason Cam was so nervous on this ride he was shaking! He didn’t want to see the 3 headed troll and put his head in my lap. We didn’t stay for the movie at the end and I don’t think anybody else did either. The kids traded pins with a janitor who was very friendly. He asked them all sorts of questions, what was their favorite ride, which was their favorite character, he even tried to get them to talk like Mickey Mouse. He was lots of fun! On the way out the kids each bought a pin that was only available to Annual Pass holders. We only waited about 5 minutes for a bus to come. We got seats for the kids but Jim and I had to stand which was fine.

Back at the resort Jim went and got us ice cream and the kids and I returned to the room. A few doors down from us an older man was standing on the balcony. I had seen him both mornings and we’d said “hello” to each other. Tonight he smiled and asked us if we had had a busy day. I said “yes” and asked him about his day. People just seem friendlier at Disney, I think if I had been at any other hotel besides Disney we would have passed each other with barely a glance.

Lights out at 9:15. Animal Kingdom tomorrow.

Monday Nov.24

I woke up at 4:45 again, tried to go back to sleep but couldn’t so got up at 5:30 for a shower. Jimmy and I walked to the food court with our refillable mugs. On the way out of our room the older man next door was out on the balcony. A CM who was putting the express check-outs on the door handed the man his. I told him it must be a bummer that his vacation was over and I asked him where his home is. He said Penn. I told him that two months ago we went to Hershey Penn. and he told me that he lives 10 miles from there! I wished him a safe trip home.

We decided to drive our car to Animal Kingdom for early opening instead of using the bus. That turned out to be a huge mistake! We arrived at the front gates at 7:25 but they wouldn’t let us drive in until 7:45. Luckily we were near the front of the line so we were driving in at 7:47, the poor people behind us were backed way up. Even so this was very disappointing because by the time we got through, parked, and walked up to the entrance there were HUGE lines of people. The whole time we were parked at the entrance I’m sure countless buses unloaded hundreds of people who were already being let into the park. We will NEVER drive there again on an early opening day. After waiting in the long line we made it in. Jimmy’s AP didn’t work (Big surprise!) but the nice lady let him through after we told her we had yet to see it work! We went straight to the Safari ride and when we arrived there was already a 20 minute wait, UGH!! So much for early entry!! We had a good safari and saw lots of animals. We even had to wait about 10 minutes on the safari for animal control to come out and move some animals out of the road! We walked over to Dinoland and the Primeval Whirl. The posted wait time said 30 minutes but it was more like 20 minutes, still in my opinion to long of a wait for this ride. Cam was nervous on this ride. He had forgotten how much he liked it 1 1/2 years ago. We laughed throughout the ride and picked up 4 FP’s when we exited for 11:05. Next was It’s Tough To Be A Bug with a 15 minute wait. The wait was actually fun because it was fun to see all the carvings up close as the line moved forward. We made a game out of finding the most animals. Great show although Cam covered his eyes for a few of the intense parts. We returned to Dinoland so the kids could play in the boneyard. It was really to crowded for them but we did spend about 10 minutes at the dig site. When the boys were younger we would always go to that area first and the kids would play for an hour having the place to themselves. It really is a lot of fun but not today with the crowds. Since we’ll be back in April for 2 ½ weeks we can spend a morning here when its not crowded. Cam didn’t want to ride the Primeval Whirl with our FPs so Jimmy and I went for 2 rides on it while Jim and Cam shared an ice cream and played one of the games. We met up and walked around the Oasis seeing some more neat animals. On the way out we stopped at Guest Services to ask why Jimmy’s AP never works. The women didn’t know why although twice she told us that if you wear rings and take them off it could affect the scan!! I reassured her that Jimmy never wears rings!! We left there with no hope of the thing ever working!! A bunch of characters were at the exit so after admiring the beautiful Christmas tree I snapped a few pictures of the boys with them. In the parking lot we were excited to see an Alaska license plate. Every summer we make a game of trying to find all the U.S. license plates and Alaska is a rare find indeed!

Drove back to the hotel where the boys got in their suits and we went right to the Fantasia Pool. Jim went into the food court and got some lunch for us. I had the taco salad, which is excellent, Jim had a grilled chicken sandwich and the boys had fries. We all ate poolside, very relaxing. There was a nice breeze and I picked some chairs in the shade. Again it was very quiet quite a contrast from the mob scene we had left behind at Animal Kingdom! This is what vacation is all about, having time to just relax. Being able to go swimming everyday is one of the highlights for the kids. I feel bad for all the poor kids that are forced to stand in lines all day long and miss out on all the simple pleasures of being at Disney.

We left the hotel at 3:00 and drove to the Wilderness Lodge, one of our favorite resorts. The kids had a blast trading pins here. The pin cart has a wonderful book with a nice selection to trade from. In the gift shop all the CMs had on their lanyards so there was a good selection to choose from. After viewing the beautiful Christmas decorations we drove over to the Polynesian where we had a PS at O’hanas at 5:00. We arrived early so we could ride the monorail around the loop. We got off at the Grand Floridian Resort to admire their breathtaking Christmas tree and the life size gingerbread house, spectacular!!!! Next stop was the Contemporary, not many decorations here, but plenty of opportunities for more pin trading. Jim took Jimmy to some shops while I took Cam. It’s easier if they don’t go together because if they want the same pin someone is bound to get disappointed.

We arrived At O’hanas and checked in where we had a short wait until we were seated. “Cousin Debbie” was our waitress. This meal turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip!!! Everything was EXCELLENT one of the best meals we’ve ever eaten. My favorites were the chicken wings, turkey, and shrimp. The peanut sauce was out of this world!! Jimmy and Cam ordered kids meals but Jimmy tried a little turkey and chicken. Dessert was pineapple and caramel sauce which sounds strange but was incredible! ( I wish I could eat some right now!!) Jimmy joined in the coconut race and I was proud of him for participating. Our kids are pretty reserved/ quiet/ well behaved who do not want to be the center of attention. We tried to get Cam to try but he couldn’t despite the fact that they were handing out his favorite candy, gummy worms at the end. For dessert we ordered the kids one of the flavored ice’s that come in a pail complete with a shovel to eat it with, very cute. Drove back to the resort with full stomachs!

Back at the resort I brought the kids swimming. It was only 7:00 but because it was dark it seemed much later. They were very excited to be swimming in the evening surrounded by the dark sky, this turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip for them! Returned to the room where we watched our video and shockingly enough light were out at 8:30!! At home Jim rarely goes to bed before 11:00 but his body is sore especially his legs. Tomorrow we will visit some more resorts, play mini golf at Winter Summerland and go to Downtown Disney.

Tuesday Nov. 25

I woke up at 6:20 the latest I have slept so far. I showered and got ready and Jimmy and I went to the food court with our refillable mugs. When we got back to the room Cam was out of the shower and playing with Legos. We left the hotel at 7:45 and drove to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Last Nov. the kids had gotten some lanyard pins there but no luck today although they did get some neat ones. We admired the lovely Christmas tree and all the decorations including the African gingerbread village. Next stop was Coronado Springs. Viewed their decorations and cute gingerbread village. We wished the train was running around the village but it wasn’t. Drove to the Caribbean Resort. This has got to be my least favorite resort, it just seems too spread out. Didn’t see to many decorations and the gift shop and food court were mobbed!

At 10:00 we arrived at Winter Summerland to play mini golf. Paid half price with our AP’s, which, was nice. Cam picked the summer side of the course. This is a fun course and we always enjoy coming here. We always arrive right when it opens so we don’t have to wait at each hole. Two CMs were on the course repairing a fish that squirts water when you cross the bridge. The CM working on the fish adjusted the squirt and sprayed his co-worker. We all had a laugh at his expense. Jimmy got three holes in one. We were hoping for a free drink at the end but I guess he didn’t get the right hole.

Drove to Downtown Disney/The Marketplace (it’ll always be the village to me!) We went into The World of Disney and they were giving out free samples of hot chocolate. Jimmy didn’t realize how hot it was and burnt his tongue. It really hurt and he needed a cold drink fast. He and I hurried out to where I knew a fountain was, however when we got there the area was being refurbished (For our future enjoyment although we were not “enjoying” it at the moment!!) We practically ran to a cart to buy a bottle of water, which Jimmy gulped down to soothe his mouth. We rejoined Jim and Cam. Jimmy went with them to do some Christmas shopping for me. I browsed by myself while they shopped and we all met up afterwards. Upon meeting up Cam was upset that Jim didn’t let him buy me a particular present. Jim’s expression appeared to say it was something way overpriced or something silly. However Cam was adamant about wanting to buy it for me. I sent them back to buy it for me since it seemed so important to Cam. I can’t wait for Christmas to see what it is, it’ll be fun getting surprises from Disney.

We walked over to the Rainforest Café and were seated right away. All of the gorillas and elephants had Santa hats on which were cute. We had a great lunch. Jimmy loved his chicken nugget meal, he had the same thing last April and says these are the best nuggets anywhere! After lunch I brought the kids to the big pin store and Jim went to the bakery to buy me two peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I LOVE these cookies and look forward to them every trip! We went into the sports store then it was on to the kids favorite store the Lego store. We loved the new set up where you can fill a canister with Legos for 12.95. My boys love Legos and spend hours building with them, they probably have 75% of all the Lego sets that have been sold in the last four years. So this new set-up was real neat for them because you could buy different colored Lego bricks that are rarely if ever seen. There were tons of adults climbing over each other to fill their buckets and it made me wonder if whoever they were buying them for would love them half as much as Jimmy and Cam would. Lego’s in hand we headed for the car and drove back to the resort.

After a quick change into swimsuits we were poolside at the Fantasia pool. Pool area still very quiet, the kids swam for an hour before going to the nearby playground. There were a couple kids there who were leaving so Jimmy and Cam had the place to themselves. Played for a bit then treated ourselves at the food court to cake and ice cream.

After changing we drove next door to the All Star Sports and toured around. There was a football game going on in the football section that we watched for a minute. If you had a sports minded boy or girl this would be a fun place to stay. Jimmy and Cam loved it. The baseball section was their favorite. We videotaped it zooming in on the Red Sox banner. Stopped at the gift shop before driving next door to the Music. Not one CM had a lanyard on so I asked them if they would get them because the boys wanted to trade. The CM was happy to get a couple of lanyards out. I bought a Disney CD, which I am excited to listen to, I know I will love it. Jimmy bought a baseball and has decided to start a baseball collection. As we were leaving Mom and Dad called. (My parents are on vacation as well and are staying outside of Disney until Saturday when they check into Fort Wilderness for 10 nights). They were six miles away and would be at our resort soon. We hurried back to the ASMO’s, deposited our purchases in our room and started for the food court to meet them. Jim and the boys were taking the stairs and I was just stepping into the elevator when I heard “bump, bump, bump, and screams”. I hurried around the corner to see Jim sitting on the stairs holding his ankle and yelling loudly. I told him to be quiet as his yelling combined with the echo in the stairway sounded frightening. After he caught his breath he hobbled back to the room and I ran and got ice for him. I put it in a Ziploc bag and put it on his ankle, which he now had elevated. Once we were sure he was ok the boys and I hustled to the food court to meet Mom and Dad and their friends Patty and Lou. We all got our dinner and sat down to eat and visit. Jimmy and Cameron were VERY excited to see Grammy and Grampa and filled them in on all the fun they have been having. Mom and Dad had spent the day at Sea World and told us about that. After eating we returned to the room. I brought dinner up to Jim. He was lying in bed and said the ankle was ok but very swollen. Jimmy and Cam spread all their pins on the bed. Grammy and Patty looked at all the pins and heard which ones were lanyard pins, CM pins, limited edition etc etc. Afterwards we showed them the Mighty Ducks pool before walking them to the parking lot. It was great to see them and we were sorry to see them leave so soon. Jimmy and Cameron certainly enjoyed showing them around.

We returned to the room and the boys got their suits on for another nighttime swim. Only swam for ½ hour because Cam got a headache and we hurried back to the room for medicine. Cam gets migraine headaches, which can incapacitate him in a short period of time. Got medicine and got the boys to bed. Lights out at 9:00PM.

Wednesday Nov. 26

We watched the weather this morning to see that rain was being forecast for Friday. Our plan had been Typhoon Lagoon today, MK tomorrow for Thanksgiving and our PS at Cinderella’s Royal Table and Epcot on Friday. Our main reason for returning to Epcot besides Mission Space was to ride Test Track as many times as possible since it is Cam’s Favorite ride and we hadn’t been on it yet. I know from experience that Test Track is shut down when it rains. I also know when that happens all the FPs go very quickly and when and if it does open the stand-by line is very long. I knew we needed to change plans to ensure that Cam got his ride on Test Track. So this is what we decided, go to Epcot today (It was sunny so perfect weather for Test Track) go to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow on Thanksgiving and on Friday go to MK. If it rained on Friday like they were predicting we could wear ponchos and still do whatever we wanted there. I just needed to cancel our PS for Cinderella’s. We started to get ready for Epcot and at 7:00 I called Disney Dining to cancel the PS (When I had made the PS back in August I was told that I would be charged 10.00 per person if we didn’t show up and I if didn’t cancel it 24 hours ahead of time) After being on hold for 20 minutes I finally got to speak with someone and asked them to please cancel my PS. The women told me that because I was canceling a Holiday meal I had to do so 48 hours in advance. Huh!!! I wasn’t told that in August. I made my call 31 hours before our PS, which wasn’t good enough. The women told me that she didn’t have the authority to cancel it only someone at Cinderella’s could. She said she would call over to see what she could do. However she came back on the line and said Cinderella’s didn’t open until 8:00 and I would have to call back then. She assured me there was nothing she could do to help me. Well it took me 20 minutes to get through that time, I was taking my family to Epcot and I certainly wasn’t going to waste our early morning ride time trying to get it canceled. (Little did I know at the time that it would practically take an act of God to get the darned thing canceled )

We caught the bus over to Epcot at 8:00, surprising since all the brochures and the resort T.V. channel said the transportation would start running 45 minutes before park opening and Epcot was opening at 9:00. Park opening had also been verified on the T.V. and brochures. We got off the bus and went through the main entrance. Jimmy’s finger scan didn’t work, big surprise. The CM reset it and said that children’s fingers are too short to work!! O.K.!!! As we made our way into the park we kept expecting to see a rope blocking our way because it was only 8:15 but we never did and before we knew it we were standing and looking at Mission Space. Jimmy and I went into Mission Space and Jim and Cam headed to Test Track. On the way in I picked up FPs for Jim and Jimmy to ride it later. Jimmy was nervous while we walked into the building and waited for our turn to blast off. I told him I remembered when I was 13 and Thunder Mountain had just opened and how nervous I was before my first ride. I of course loved it and I thought Jimmy would like this new ride as well. After getting our final instructions we were strapped in. It was a fun ride with some neat effects but I was expecting something more. Jimmy declared it one of his new favorite rides. Next we hustled over to Test Track, it is only 8:45 and we jump into a 10 minute line. (Remember the park isn’t even suppose to open until 9:00) We had a fun ride and we hurried out to ride again. The wait is 35 minutes so I convince Jimmy to go into the single rider line. He is nervous about us splitting up but I am able to reassure him that I’ll go first and be waiting for him when he gets out. We go through the line and in less than a minute we are watching the pre-show. How cool, much better than a 35 minute wait! Jimmy and I even end up in the same car! Funny thing happened on this ride in the tunnel that is suppose to be dark where the tractor trailer truck almost hits you it was all lit up and we almost stopped right before the truck. We finish the ride without any more problems and hurry around to ride again. We use the single rider line again and wait about 10 minutes before another great ride. At this point it is 10:00 and we go and meet Jim and Cam. Jimmy and I have ridden MS once and TT three times, Jim and Cam have ridden TT three times. They tell us that they saw “Santa” a man dressed in a red shirt with red shorts and a beard. I give Jim and Jimmy their FPs for MS and Jim gives Cam and I ours for TT. We each go on our rides and plan to meet at the Land. Cam LOVES TT and walks in with such an air of confidence as we go through the waiting area. He was chattering nonstop telling me about the three rides he has already taken. We board our car and Cam wants to sit in the middle. He tells me that on one of his earlier ride’s the car stopped on the hill climb for a couple minutes and all the lights came on.

Cam and I walked over to The Land and picked up FPs for the Living With The Land Boat Ride. Cam trades pins with a CM who noticed his Red Sox hat. This led to a discussion on the Red Sox’s heartbreaking performance in the ALCS. The CM was originally from Mass. Before moving to Fla. 11 years ago. Met up with Jim and Jimmy who gave a great review of Mission Space. We sat down and have snacks from my backpack supplemented with one hot fudge sundae that we share. When we finish I notice that Food Rocks is due to start in 1 minute so we hurry in. Enjoyed the show then went and used our FPs for the boat ride. As we were walking in line an Asian man grabbed Jimmy firmly by his elbow. Apparently he wasn’t paying attention and thought Jimmy was his son! Needless to say it shocked Jimmy. Boarded the boat for an interesting ride. After the ride we had accomplished everything at Epcot that we wanted. The boys and I headed back to the resort. This was Jim’s day to spend a few hours at Innovations plus see an exhibit on baseball over in Japan.

Back in the room the boys played with Legos and enjoyed some down time. I rested a bit before having a shower. We then headed to the Fantasia pool and I decided I would try one last time to cancel that PS and avoid the $40.00 being charged to my Visa. No wait at guest relations at the resort. A CM named Young waited on me and was very nice and helpful. I explained the situation to him how I had made the PS back in August and that I had been told to cancel 24 hours in advance to avoid a fee. How that morning 31 hours in advance I had tried to cancel only to be told that it had to be canceled 48 hours in advance since it was for a Holiday and that at this point only Cinderella’s could cancel it. He called up Disney Dining and asked to be put through directly to Cinderella’s. He was on hold for at least 10 minutes. During this time Jim walked into the lobby on his return from Epcot so he brought the kids to the pool. Throughout this whole process, a startling 45 minutes, Young was very apologetic and kept telling me interesting Disney facts while he was on hold. Young was transferred to 4 different people and each time he was on hold between 5-10 minutes. Every person he spoke to he would explain that I was only trying to cancel a PS within the time frame that I had been told when I had made my PS Finally I heard him say “ will you explain it to the guest” I took the phone and the women explained that since it was a Holiday I needed to cancel 48 hours in advance and I hadn’t. I told her that wasn’t what I had been told when I had made the PS. If I had been I wouldn’t have wasted so much time on this. She said she couldn’t understand why I would want to cancel a Thanksgiving dinner at the Castle. I told her it was due to the weather that we had changed our plans. She told me that I should never change plans in Florida because of weather. I was firm that yes we did indeed want to change our plans, that all I wanted to do was cancel a PS that I had attempted to that morning well within the 24 hours that I had been told that I could. It wasn’t my fault that the CM had given me the wrong information back in August. After all this she tells me that only someone at Cinderella’s can cancel it for me!!! HUH!!! What the heck have I been waiting for this whole time?? I clearly heard Young ask for Cinderella’s 40 minutes ago, why was he transferred to all those people?? I asked her if she would call Cinderella’s and see what she could do. She told me she doubted she would be able to get through. I suggested she try and leave me a message at my hotel with her results. She curtly told me to wait a minute and she would see what she could do. Miracle’s of miracle’s she came back on the line and told me it was my “ lucky day”!! At the moment I wasn’t feeling terribly “lucky”!! The manager at Cinderella’s said he would let me cancel with no penalty, however he had several “warnings” for me. The first being I had better be at Typhoon Lagoon by 10:00 because all the theme parks would quickly fill to capacity shortly after opening because of the Holiday and would stop letting guests in. ( at some point in my conversation I had told the women we wanted to go to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow) Second I should be warned that every single restaurant was booked for Thanksgiving and now I would have nowhere to eat! I thanked her for her “helpful hints” and joined my family at the pool. If someone had ever told me that I would be given such a hassle to cancel a PS for Thanksgiving I never ever would have believed it! In my opinion the whole thing was completely absurd. I also want to add that on Thanksgiving not only did NO park close shortly after opening no park closed at all during the day due to crowds and we had a wonderful turkey dinner that evening right at the ASMO!!

The pool was wonderful as always and the boys had a fantastic time swimming around. After the pool we went to the playground and they had it to themselves again. Great fun! When we finished at the playground I bought two hot fudge sundaes and brought them back to the room to share. Ate the sundaes then the boys played with Legos while I rested for a few minutes. We then were off to the Boardwalk.

The lobby of the Boardwalk was beautiful. An amusement park was made out of gingerbread and chocolate. We all admired it. Cam wanted to take a bite out of it! We walked down by the boardwalk and rented a surrey. Cam has wanted to do this on his last few trips. Unfortunately he wasn’t tall enough to peddle, didn’t matter he loved his ride, we all did. I wouldn’t want to do this when it is real crowded because people walking around aren’t always paying attention and I was nervous someone was going to step in front of us. We made the full loop over to the Yacht and Beach Club twice and down to the Swan/Dolphin. Loved seeing all the nutcrackers they had on display. We enjoyed being on the Boardwalk after dark, very lively. Returned to the hotel for the boys nightly swim. Jim went to the food court to pick up dinner and met us at the pool. We ate at the pool while the boys swam then returned to our room. Watched Survivor on TV and lights out at 9:00pm.

Thursday Nov 27 Happy Thanksgiving

Didn’t feel my best when I got up but it passed in an hour. Jim and Cam went to the food court and bought breakfast. A first since we’ve been here. Almost a week and we have just grabbed breakfast food from the suitcase. They brought back Mickey waffles, which were fantastic. Light and fluffy. We drove over to the Wilderness Lodge in hopes of getting a lanyard pin. No luck but we did buy the limited edition Thanksgiving 2003 pin. We left and drove over to Port Orleans and admired the pretty Christmas tree in the lobby. Looked in the gift shop and bought a decal for my van. Drove to Typhoon Lagoon, arriving at 9:20AM. Got in line and went through the ticket booth. Jim’s ticket didn’t work and he had to go to guest service. They issued him a new ticket as his had become de-magnetized. Got a spot for our stuff right in front of the wave pool and headed to the shark reef. I decided to watch as my stomach was a little queasy and I knew that the water was pretty cold. Cam had trouble with his mask and snorkel and felt he couldn’t breathe. He made it only a quarter of the way and finally went back and never did look down. He was very disappointed. I offered to go in and try it with him but he said no. Jim and Jimmy went across and Jimmy loved it. Hustled over to ride the storm slides and did about six rides. Jimmy also did Humunga Cowabunga twice but the primary reason for coming to TL was the wave pool. So we went there next and stayed in for an hour until the massive waves stopped. When it did the boys and I went on the Lazy River and did the whole circuit twice. We went back to our spot and Jim was waiting with a chicken wrap for me, which was very tasty, and fries for the boys. After that break the three boys headed back into the wave pool while I relaxed. They stayed in until the big waves stopped. Next we went back to the Storm Slides and found that quite a line had formed, although we didn’t wait more than 5 minutes. I had never waited in a line at the storm slides on any of our previous trips. We made another loop on the Lazy River and when we heard the horn signaling the start of the big waves we dashed over to the wave pool. As we stepped in the pool we were greeted by hundreds of people chanting “we want waves”. For a second I thought they were saying “USA” and was thinking how patriotic that was! The wave pool was quite crowded. Cameron found great pleasure in screaming with the crowd every time the big waves started. He is normally so reserved. It was great to see him let loose. We rode about 15 waves but on the last few the kids got kicked and scraped so to avoid further injury we decided to leave knowing we would be back in April. Bought two dozen of the mini donuts on the way out. Jimmy took one bite and said “I wait all year for these”. Excellent day at TL, great way to spend Thanksgiving. Word of warning, I lost my barrette and one earring while there.

After we all showered we drove to the Marketplace for pictures with Santa. After pictures our plan had been to park at the Poly and go into MK, however, Cam fell asleep on the way to the Marketplace and had a hard time waking up. Neither Jimmy nor Cameron wanted to go to the MK. Jimmy thought it would be too crowded and Cam was just plain tired. We got in line for Santa at 4:40PM with Santa due to arrive at 5:00PM. The family in line behind us commented on the boys Red Sox shirts and we got to talking, and it turned out they were also from NH and arrived last Friday like us and are also leaving on Saturday. Right before our turn with Santa Jimmy turned to me and said “I don’t know what to tell Santa I want for Christmas”. I reminded him that he wants Legos and baseball cards. Cam, who has never liked talking to Santa said he wasn’t saying anything and I said that was fine. The boys took a great picture with Santa, which we purchased along with a Disney frame. Did some pin trading while Jim went and got me two more peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I brought the boys into Once Upon a Toy. As we were leaving I asked the boys if they wanted to go by the fountain. Jimmy said no and Cam said he’d walk by but he wasn’t going to get wet. Well within seconds they were running across with Jim joining them. Before long they were completely soaked and having a blast. Over the years I have spent hours upon hours sitting at this fountain while the boys played in their bathing suits. This was the first time we were here after dark. It was magical sitting there. The marketplace was decorated with lots of Christmas lights and pretty Christmas music was playing and my boys were laughing and running through the fountains. Before we left a man walked by and noticed the Red Sox shirts and said “Only someone form Boston would be running through the fountains”. We told him we weren’t from Boston but NH.

Drove back to the resort and as we were pulling into the parking lot I realized Cam had been awfully quiet. I turned around to see if he had fallen asleep again but instead he had big tears rolling down his cheeks. I knew without asking that he was crying because he knew our vacation was coming to an end. I was comforting him on the way to the room when Jimmy spotted a bunny. We stopped to admire him before returning to the room and cheered up. The kids changed into their swimsuits and we went to the Fantasia pool. Once we got to the pool we realized that we had forgotten the goggles, first time we had forgotten them all week. I ran back to the room to get them and when I got back Jim went to the food court and bought our turkey dinners. We ate our dinners next to the pool while the kids swam. A lady walked by us as we were eating and wished us a Happy Thanksgiving. It had been a perfect day! We returned to the room and settled down. Jimmy mentioned how much Cam has been reading on this vacation and he is right. Cam has read practically every sign we have walked by. The boys watched a few cartoons until 8:30 then it was lights out. Jim had already fallen asleep at 8:15. That is so shocking!! He is getting more sleep at Disney then he is at home!!

I keep forgetting to mention how much we have been enjoying the wonderful window displays that housekeeping has put together every day, not only in our own window but on our whole floor. They are very cute.

Friday Nov. 28

Our last full day since we leave tomorrow, Boo Hoo!! Jimmy came into the bathroom to get me this morning and let me know that Cam was lying in bed crying. Poor guy. I hurried out to comfort him. He’s just so sad that the vacation is almost over. I try to cheer him up and remind him how much Espo is surely missing us. Cameron says he doesn’t want the day to end.

We all get ready and Jim and the boys go to the food court for drinks and a fruit cup for me. I pick up the room a bit while watching the news. All the day after Thanksgiving shoppers are out in force and all the morning news shows are covering it. The boys come back and we all head out at 7:40AM. We walked to the bus stop and there is a MK bus waiting so we hopped on. As we were driving away Jimmy spotted an armadillo on the side of the road. We arrived at MK ticket gate at 8:00AM but it isn’t due to open until 9:00AM. However, since we’d seen AK and Epcot open earlier than scheduled we didn’t want to take any chances on our last day. At 8:30AM we went through the ticket counter and Jimmy’s AP finally worked, Yea!! We all stood in a roped off area and were “entertained” by the family behind us. The children were quite active and kept bumping into Jim. Since we were packed in we didn’t have the luxury of moving away from them. After a few minutes one of the boys who looked around seven waved one of the CM’s over and his mother told the CM that he was too excited to wait any longer and could she please let them in early!! Huh? Like my kids and the hundreds of others weren’t equally excited. Did she really think that the CM could let her family through while everyone else waited? Anyway it gave Jim and I a good chuckle. At 8:45 the “Good Morning” show began and the train pulled in with all the characters. We walked down Main Street and stopped at the rope going into Frontierland. At 9:00AM we were “walked” to Splash and Thunder Mountain. Jim and Jimmy went to Splash while Cam and I rode Big Thunder. We were so relieved BTM was finally open. It had opened on Thanksgiving after being closed for at least two months. It’s one of Cams favorite rides and it was our goal to ride it as many times as we could without a line. Cam and I rode it four times and then waited for Jim and Jimmy. After a few minutes they showed up after riding Splash Mountain twice. We all went on BTM and Jimmy and Cam rode together. Cam realized on an earlier ride that he is no longer afraid of the bat cave. He always had wanted to ride with me so he could close his eyes through the bat cave and then I would tell him when we were done. He was quite proud of himself that he was no longer afraid. For our last ride we used our FP’s and the three of us went on while Jim walked to the other side of the park and got FP’s for Space Mountain. We all met at the Diamond Horseshoe Revue for the Goofy Christmas show. We would have enjoyed it more if everything was done on the stage instead of the dance floor. We are not really into participating and would rather watch. Probably won’t bother to go to it again, although, if we could sit in the balcony the kids would have enjoyed it more.

We then thought about going on Pirates until we saw it was a 45 minute wait!! Wow! We never wait for this since it’s always a walk-on, needless to say we continued on. Stopped in the Pirates gift shop to pin trade and the kids each got lanyard pins. The CM took his role as a pirate seriously and was rather comical. Very realistic! Called us “Matey’s” and said “Argh” a lot. At this point we were wondering what to do next and Cam suggested Tom Sawyer’s Island. Perfect suggestion, we headed right over and hopped on the raft. I have so many wonderful memories of the boys at different ages on Tom Sawyer’s. They love to wander ahead of us in the cave and then pop out and “scare” us. When we got to the Fort, Jim and I sat down on a bench and let the kids go explore. The weather was so comfortable with a nice breeze to keep us cool. This is completely different from when we are here in April. When we went over the barrel bridge we spotted an albino duck and snapped a picture of it.

Left the island and headed to Space Mountain to use our FP. Glad we had them, as it was a 60-minute wait. We walked right on and had a terrific ride. When we got off we all commented on how much faster it seemed than our previous rides. We split up on Main Street to pin trade in the shops and met at the end to leave the park. A bus was waiting for us and we hurried on. I visited with an older couple, that were staying at the ASM and we agreed what a great resort it was. Excellent service and a terrific food court.

Returned to our room while Jim picked up our lunch at the food court. After eating lunch we went to the Fantasia pool. As always it was very relaxing sitting and watching the boys swim. As I watched, I couldn’t help but wish it was one week ago and our vacation was just starting. It had been an excellent week and I was sorry to see it coming to an end. When they finished swimming I went and got hot fudge sundaes for us to eat poolside. Yummy! Afterwards Jim brought the boys to the playground while I went back to the room to do a little packing. I had left the housekeeper a note asking if she would leave any extra soap because I had read on a web site about a group that uses the Disney soaps to make care packages for sick children. I had saved mine all week but figured I’d ask for a few extra. I was amazed to find 30 soaps waiting for me. I can’t wait to mail them off when I get home.

The three boys returned to the room and we all relaxed before heading out to the Contemporary. They were hosting kids pin trading night from 7:00-10:00 and Jimmy and Cam love to trade off the big board. When we arrived at 5:30 there was already a line of kids. UGH!!! We got in line at 5:45 and visited with other people in line. A Mother behind us let Jimmy and Cam look through all her trader pins and said if they saw something they wanted she would trade for anything they had. It was very nice of her and they both made a trade. Finally it was Jimmy and Cams turn to trade off the big board. They looked at the board very intently and then made their five trades. When they finished they showed us their trades and were quite happy and excited with their new pins.

We gave the kids the choice of going into the MK or back to the resort. They both choose the MK even though I warned them that it was probably too crowded to do any rides. We walked over on the walkway between the Contemporary and the MK. Main Street was all lit up with Christmas lights and was very pretty. We went for a spin on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority and enjoyed seeing Tomorrowland all lit up. Next we watched the Mickey’s Night Before Christmas show. Great show and it was even a little different from last year. As we were watching the show we became aware of how chilly it had become. We weren’t freezing but it was defiantly chilly! The show ended at 8:55 and I suggested we hustle over to Fantasyland and watch the Wishes Fireworks show from a different view. Great spot as the fireworks were literally going off over our heads. Another great show! At this point the boys were getting cold so I had them put on the disposable poncho’s that were in my backpack. I figured it would at least help stop the wind, which had really picked up. Everyone around us seemed to be dressed for the night with pants, sweatshirts and coats. We walked over to Frontierland and hopped on the train for a ride to Main Street. As we were exiting the park a man looked at us and said to his wife “they must be Yankees” It was chilly but we were fine!!

Drove back to our resort for one last night. Once in the room Jim went to get us something to eat and Jimmy grabbed his pin catalog to check out his new pins. The catalog has thousands of pins and rates them from A-E for value. As I was putting things away Jimmy called me over and had me double check a pin that he had gotten off the board at the Contemporary. Sure enough it was rated as an E!!!! We were both so excited! Cam was jealous and Jim was at the food court buying me a sandwich. Jimmy wanted to call Grammy with his exciting news but it was 10:35 and I knew she would be sleeping so I said he could call first thing in the morning. However after 5 minutes I thought he was going to burst so we called and he told Grammy and Grandpa his big news. I can’t think of a more magical way to end the vacation than Jimmy getting this pin. Now both Jimmy and Cam got special pins on this trip. (Now that we are home, both special pins have a place of honor in our china closet) Jim returned, we had a bite to eat then settled into bed. I watched the news on T.V. and the big news story was the sudden temperature drop! It was kinda funny, it was cool but being from N.H. this would not be a top story or any story for that matter!

Sat. Nov. 29

I woke up at 6:30 and showered and dressed. The boys watched Toon Disney while I walked down to the gift shop to pick up a few last minute surprises for the kids. The weather was cool and windy some people were wearing hats and mittens. That seemed a bit extreme! I finished my shopping and returned to the room. Jimmy kept saying “ I can’t believe that I got that pin!” We all went to the food court for breakfast. The boys had the Mickey waffles, which were outstanding. We agreed that in April we would have to ride over just to have some waffles! When we finished eating we went into the gift shop. The boys still had quite a bit of money left so they looked all around. Cam ended up buying a couple gummy goofy burgers and Jimmy got some chocolate coins. The boys and I returned to the room while Jim stayed back to use the restroom. However when he got back to the room he had a bag that I couldn’t look inside! I can’t wait for Christmas to see all my Disney surprises!! We loaded up the car and left for the airport. Uneventful ride and we parked to return the rent-a-car. The only strange thing was last night when we pulled into the Contemporary my sunglasses slipped off the dashboard and went under the seat. I tried to find them in the darkness but I couldn’t. When I got out at the airport I still couldn’t find them so I asked Jimmy then Jim to look for them but none of us could find them. Very strange I have no idea what happened to them! Thankfully they were cheap sunglasses!

We checked in the luggage and I realized I had made a mistake and put all the film and underwater camera into the luggage, which would ruin it. I knew which suitcase had the film but not the underwater camera so I had to search through the suitcases to find it on the floor of the airport. Finally found it and put them in our carry-on luggage and walked to our terminal. As I was picking up our bags after going through security I happened to glance at the man behind me and noticed he was holding a boarding pass that read Cameron Commerford. How odd! Commerford is not a common name so the odds that this man’s name was Cameron Commerford would have been a million to one. I asked him if his name was Cameron Commerford and he looked at me and said “no”. He said that he had picked up the boarding pass a ways back and was going to turn it in. I told him it was my sons and he gave it to me with my huge thanks. I can’t even begin to imagine how or where I had dropped it. I hadn’t even taken it out of my pocket. First my sunglasses now the boarding pass. I was beginning to wonder if David Copperfield was nearby. Boarding pass in hand we headed to our gate to wait for our flight, as we said goodbye to Fla. until April.

Final Thoughts and Tips

We had a fantastic week. It was great for the four of us to be together, relax and have fun. The weather was incredible / mid 80s everyday (except the day we flew home) we were never hot but it was warm enough for the kids to go swimming twice a day. Having experienced the HOT temperatures in April I really appreciate the weather Nov. has to offer. You can do so much more because you are not constantly ducking into air conditioning to cool off. Having said that we also LOVE going in April too.

The crowds were definitely up during the trip but it didn’t stop us from seeing and doing everything that we wanted.

For our family we would only want to stay at a Disney Resort. We know you can stay outside for less money and get a larger room or you can get a room with a kitchen, plus a washer and dryer. Although those things sound wonderful we would rather forgo those amenities and enjoy staying on-site. We find the All Stars to be a wonderful place to stay. The service is excellent. I can’t imagine it being any better at a higher priced resort. A few times we needed extra towels (for all that swimming) and they were delivered each time in less than 5 minutes. One night out of eight we heard noise next door but other than that it was quiet and peaceful. In our opinion the food court can’t be beat for all the offerings and the quality. We could NEVER stay at a deluxe resort for a whole week with kids because they have two sit down restaurants and a burger/hotdog joint. Our kids would rather go swimming not sit down in a restaurant and Jim and I would get sick of eating the burger fare everyday. So the food court suits the needs of our family.

Having a rental car is a must for us. We used Disney transportation to get to the theme parks but used the car to visit the other resorts, Downtown Disney, Winter/Summerland, Typhoon Lagoon and of course the drive to and from the airport.

Our biggest bit of advice would be to get to the theme parks when they open and have a plan on what your family wants to do. You can wander around anytime but you only have a precious few hours before the lines form. Definitely take advantage of FPs and take it easy on your children. Think about whether your child will have more fun standing in line for 30 minutes to an hour for a ride that will take 3 minutes or swimming in your resorts themed pool. Remember that not only are you paying for your park admission but you also paid good money for your resort so take advantage of what that has to offer as well. As we all know a tired kid is not a happy kid and I bet most people plan their WDW vacation for their kids. So once your there don’t get in the mindset that your going to see and do it all because quite frankly your not and no one will have fun trying. With 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, Downtown Disney, dinner shows and countless restaurants, plus tons of recreational activities it’s impossible to see and do it all. However I see enough overtired, unhappy kids that obviously many parents try to do just that!

Jimmy and Cam have grown up going to WDW. For the four of us when we return it’s like going “home”. We have so many happy memories there and continue to make more every time we visit. So for anyone considering a trip GO for it you wont regret it!! We are counting the days until our next trip in April. We will be there for 20 days, pure bliss!!!!

Heidi Commerford