Cast:
Me - Mom 42
Dad - 42
Dear Daughter DD - 6
Dear Son -- 5

My Sister -- 39
Dear Niece - 11
Dear Nephew 10

Day ONE


We all awoke early 4:00 a.m. to set off for the airport for a 7:40 a.m. flight--Yikes that's early. Flight was smooth and on time. We arrived MCO at 10:30 a.m. Almost a whole day ahead of us Yippie!!! Magical Express was quick and we were all checked in by noon. We had requested adjoining rooms and at first we were given rooms on different floors, but then the front desk "upgraded" My Sister and gave her a bunk bed room. I'm not sure how it was an upgrade considering she was supposed to have a courtyard view and ended up in a room with a standard view. At first she was disappointed but after the first night she was thrilled with the bunk beds. Her room was down the hall from ours which worked out fine in the end.

I was little disappointed with our "mousekeeping" the towel animals were sparse and not very good more on that later. Our first trip to WL in 2005 was so perfect that I had very high expectations this time around. When we first arrived the part of the lobby near the "bubbling spring" was blocked off. On our last day they opened that section and blocked off the entire middle section of the lobby. The elevators on our side of the resort were broken one day and only one worked the other days. Also the pool was quite dirty on Sunday. I don't know if it is usual for it not to get cleaned on Sundays. We were also disappointed with Roaring Forks this time around. My husband and my nephew both ordered the croissant sandwich and found the cheese to be "weird" not bad per se but strange. They took it apart and found bits of macaroni in the cheese. It couldn't be could it????

Upon arriving we grabbed a quick counter service lunch at Roaring Forks. It was nothing special. We were on the dining plan so my kids had a choice of only TWO things PB & J or chicken nuggets. Overall the kids choices for dining plan all week were very limited. Most places offered macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets. The big exception was Le Cellier (more on that later). The buffets were a much better option for the kids.

We then headed out to MK. Oh how I love the first approach of the trip and I am never disappointed. We took the boat launch which was consistently good all week. The kids were delighted when the castle came into view. We headed through the turnstiles and then down Main Street USA! This was the first trip for my 5 year old son (we adopted him in 2006). He was awestruck. We immediately headed over to Tomorrow Land our plan was to hit Buzz Lightyear. On the way we stopped in the Laugh Factory which was new to all of us. It was cute--I like Turtle Talk more but the kids thought it was a riot. We then rode Buzz (the first of many many times). After Buzz we separated and the big kids went to Space Mountain with DH and the little kids and my Sister headed to Pirates. I was curious about the changes. My daughter was thrilled to see Jack Sparrow! My son was a trooper because I know he was a little frightened. He is now a seasoned Disney veteran. We met back up and headed to the Country Bear Jamboree. No matter how many times I see it, I still love it. My son was so funny he kept saying "hello" to the heads on the wall. We then doubled back and rode It's a Small World and Peter Pan. After Peter it was time for our ADR at Liberty Tree.

Liberty Tree is one of our favorites. After I checked in with the hostess I remembered that we didn't have autograph books yet...we left dh with the kids and ran to the kiosk across from the shooting gallery and picked them up --crisis averted! We really enjoyed it. The characters were fun and the food was good. We left there full and happy! By this time it was close to MK closing for the Pirate Princess party (we had tickets for Friday) so because we got up so early we decided to head back to the hotel. Of course, after the boat ride back the kids got a second wind so it was off to the pool to enjoy a swim. The slide was still open and the kids had a blast.

What a great first day at Disney. We really packed in a lot of fun for a first day.

Day TWO

Stitch woke us up at 7:00. The girls were going to Askershus for the princess breakfast and the boys were going to Whispering Canyon. The princess breakfast was so much nicer than I expected. Last trip we did CRT which was fun but I think I liked this breakfast better. Based on other reviews I have read I expected the food to be mediocre at best and the interaction to be brief. Instead the food was quite good. I loved the potato casserole! The table service food was so plentiful we barely looked at the buffet part but it looked good. The princesses were great. Jasmine told a story about friends and Mulan was very chatty. The only one that didn't really talk was Snow White, but the girls were so thrilled they barely noticed.

After breakfast we walked around future world in EPCOT. We grabbed FP for Soarin. Last visit I didn't get to ride because my daughter was not tall enough so she and I did something else so I was really looking forward to it. Then we headed over to the Living Seas. We rode the clam shells. On our last visit Living Seas was closed so we were looking forward to it. The Nemo story is cute. It does take away from the marine life though. The ride stopped at one point for about 5 minutes. We were stuck right by the jelly fish. I really got a kick out of the star fish at the end. We roamed around future world for while and then rode Soarin. I loved it. I am not a big fan of heights so I was a little worried but I really really liked it. We also rode the boat ride in The Land. I was a little sad that the guides are no longer there. I love going through the greenhouse. It always makes me want to garden.

We had ADRs at Coral Reef. We waited a little bit before our table was ready. I guess because we are a bigger group we were in the last row at the end near the entrance. It was not a very good table. We still enjoyed dinner. My sister and I both tried a Glowtini and it was very good. We are a funny group all three grownups ordered steak...it was okay. The kids both got chicken nuggets (surprise). My niece ordered a pasta dish not the one with the shrimp -- it was awful. After Creme Brulee we called it a day! We walked out of Coral Reef just as the Illuminations was happening. We decided to head out since it would be almost over by the time we got over to it. We took the bus back to WL. Of course when we got back it was time for what the kids called a "midnight swim."

Day THREE
--- more later.

Great start, JTM! I'm looking forward to the rest. My DH and I are staying at the WL this December for what will probably be our last adults-only trip for a long time! Please keep talking about WL, good and bad.

I can't wait to hear more! Thanks for writing.

Day THREE

Today we decided to get up early and go to AK. AK is my least favorite park. I think it has a lot to do with going in August. It is extremely hot and for some reason it always seems hotter at AK to me. I also think the pathways are so narrow that it always seems very crowded. We really wanted to see the new Nemo show and the big kids (including my husband) wanted to ride Everest.

We arrived and the big kids ran to get fast passes for Everest. Everest was temporarily closed something to do with the harness system not releasing. The cast member said they would still honor fps so the gang got one. We then milled around dinoland (? still don't get it). While in dinoland some painter acrobats did their act. They are so good. They climb on ladders and juggle paint brushes. They gave my nephew a trophy to hold and then a certificate for helping. It was cute. We rode dinosaur which is fun. Then we went to wait in a huge line for Nemo. We had no trouble getting in but the show was delayed about 20 minutes for some unknown reason. It was nice and cool inside so I was happy but the crowd grew really restless and was shouting "start the show." When the cast member announced it would just be a few more minutes the crowd errupted with "boos." The show started and it was really good. All 7 of us liked it.

Then my sister, I and the little kids left to go swimming at the hotel. The big kid group stayed to do Everest (which they LOVED) and some other rides at AK. We went back to the pool. The kids love the pool.

Then we got changed and headed over to Chef Mickeys for dinner. We had never been there but will add it to our list next time too. The food was good and the characters were friendly and funny. I especially liked the bread pudding for dessert. The kids loved the sundae bar!

Guess what then we went back to the hotel to swim :) We headed down to the beach to watch the electric parade and saw some of the MK fireworks. I am so glad that we got the refillable mug this time around because with all the swimming we have been filling them constantly. Back at the room we expected a new towel animal and found none...just the ones from the day before a cat and mouse re-positioned. Last time around they were different every day. My sister's room had a different one so I guess it was just our mousekeeper.

DAY FOUR

Today we stayed at the WL had breakfast at Roaring Forks the breakfast platter is good and then played at the pool. We have tickets to the Pirate Princess party tonight.

Then we headed to the Poly for late lunch ressies at Kona Cafe. Kona was great. We all really enjoyed it. The food was very good. Our server was awesome! Then it started to storm -- really storm -- it was raining really hard, thunder lightening. So we moved to the bar area and had Blueberry Cosmos. We checked out the gift shops in the poly and looked out the windows. I really like the Wilderness Lodge but I would like to stay at the Poly next time. The storm let up just a little around 3:00 ish and we headed over to MK. When we got there the storm picked up again. This was not a typical Florida storm. The big kids headed to space mountain and we headed to fantasy land. The storm got worse and we ended up riding Small World with the two little ones 3 times in a row without getting off to keep them inside away from the lightening. At one point the ground shook. I have been at Disney in the rain with no problem this storm was violent and scary. At 7:00pm they announced the party was starting we headed to the closest treasure spot which was not yet open. Picture the scene rain, thunder, lightening, and they won't let us in .... a manager came over and apologized and then it opened a few minutes later. We hit a few treasure spots and then saw Mr. Smee and Captain Hook. We looked at Cinderella's carriage and took a soggy poncho picture in front of it. Then we saw Jack Sparrow--he was great. My daughter is still talking about him. We rode Pirates (again). Then we lined up for the parade which was then cancelled. My daughter had had it at that point so she and I went back to the hotel. The rest of the gang stayed and watched the late parade and fireworks which they said were great.

Back at the hotel -- we had hot chocolate and watched TV. We got another Mouse towel animal (kind of a let down).

Day FIVE

Today we slept in a little and went swimming in the morning. My son got to open the pool. It was cute he got a cowboy hat and bandana with sherif pin. He had to yell as loud as he could after an introduction thatSherif Chris says "the slide is open!" He loved it. It was a happy coincidence because my daughter was having her hair wrapped and he was feeling left out so they both got something special.

We then headed over to MGM. We separated almost immediately -- big kids went to R n R and T o T and the littles headed to the great movie ride-- always fun! We went on the backlot tour, saw the muppet 3d movie, walked through Narnia (a real let down--we waited on line for 20 minutes for essentially a movie trailer--definitely not worth the wait). We saw the High School Musical traveling pep rally which is cute.

We really wanted to see the stunt show but we missed it by minutes. We had ADRs at Crystal Palace so we had to leave. Ahhh Crystal Palace the kids loved it I did not. It's really loud in there and the seats are so close together. The food there is similar to Chef Mickeys but not as good. Eyore for some reason waived my son's autograph book away after signing the other 3 kids...weird. At least he's the youngest so I just signed it under the table so he wouldn't know. Then the rain and lightening started again! We decided to go back and hang out at WL...we ran from Crystal Palace through Casey's all the way through the stores down Main Street.

Back at the WL. We hung out in the lobby (another Blueberry cosmo). Then we took the kids to the arcade. It is expensive but they had fun. We sat some more in the lobby before heading up to bed.

Day SIX


More tomorrow....

Thanks for posting! Always fun to read everyone's travel experiences! THANKS!

Sounds like a great trip!

I am totally loving your trip report!!! I love the fact that you are also taking out some time to enjoy the pool and the hotel....wonderful! :fez: