Arnold van Beverhoudt, Jr. -- December 2009 -- Saratoga Springs Resort

[arnoldvb]

Arnold van Beverhoudt, Jr. -- December 2009 -- Saratoga Springs Resort

Travel Dates: December 1-7, 2009
Travel Method: Plane, Rental Car
Resort: Saratoga Springs Resort
Accommodations: Two Bedroom Villa
Ages Represented: Toddler to Older Adult
WDW Experience: Veteran (annual visits since 2003)
Comments: Another family visit to one of the Happiest Places on Earth

Cast of Characters:

Arnold, 59 (trip reporter) -- 14 WDW trips since 1973 and 1 Disneyland trip in 1985
Helena, 60 (wife) -- 13 WDW trips since 1982 and 2 Disneyland trips in 1972 and 1985
Selene, 32 (daughter) -- 8 WDW trips since 1982 and 1 Disneyland trip in 1985
John, 40 (son-in-law) -- 4 WDW trips since 2001
Jaidyn, 4 (granddaughter) -- 2 WDW trips since 2006

Advance Planning:

It was early January 2009, and Helena and I had just gotten back from our annual December trip to Florida for medical checkups; some family time with our daughter Selene, son-in-law John, and granddaughter Jaidyn; and another visit to Walt Disney World. We already had another Disney World trip planned for late April 2009 to see my favorite rock and roll band, The Ventures, perform at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival. But our Annual Passes (APs) didn’t expire until late December 2009. What more reason do we need for another December trip to Disney World, except maybe that Jaidyn will be 4 years old by then and sure to get a lot more out of such a visit than she did on her two earlier visits at 1 and 2 years old?

Helena and I discussed it, and eventually settled on December 1 to 7, mainly because that would spare us the dreaded Old Spice Classic (Nov. 26-29) and Pop Warner (Dec. 7-12) crowds. Those dates also worked for Selene and John’s work schedules, although Jaidyn would miss a few days of pre-kindergarten (more on that later). On January 20, within the 11-month “home resort” reservation window, I called Disney Vacation Club (DVC) member services and reserved a 2-bedroom villa at the Saratoga Springs Resort (SSR). The cast member who made our reservation was amused that the 216 points for the 6-night/7-day stay neatly used up our 16 leftover DVC points from 2008 and 200 new points from 2009. He said it was rare for a DVC member’s points usage to work out so perfectly. With our resort confirmed, I put aside the trip planning until May 6, when I called DVC member services at the 7-month “non-home resort” window to try change our reservation to a 2-bedroom villa at Boardwalk Villas (BWV). Not surprisingly, nothing was available, so I requested to be put on the waitlist for BWV. I wasn’t really expecting anything to become available, but at least the request was in.

For the next few months, I kept checking the American Airlines website for the non-stop flights between St. Thomas and Miami. (There are no direct flights between St. Thomas and Orlando, and flying through San Juan is a misadventure we’d rather avoid.) The fares fluctuated, from one week to the next, between $600 to $700 per person. But for past trips to Miami, airfares had been closer to $400 to $450 per person. So I just waited, hoping that something better would come up. On July 29, the fares finally dropped to $451 per person, and I jumped on it right away. We now had our airline reservations, flying from St. Thomas to Miami on Friday, November 27 (the day after Thanksgiving) and returning home on Sunday, December 27. The same day, I reserved a full-sized car from Hertz, with a rate of $1,351 for the month, including fees, surcharges, and the NeverLost GPS system. (Hi, Sarah. Remember me?) The actual rental fee for the car was $775 for the month, but various airport charges, taxes, and fees added another $576. That’s where they really get you!

By early May, the dates for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP) were posted, and I asked Selene if she thought Jaidyn would be up to a late night at the Magic Kingdom with Mickey and friends. Selene thought that was a great idea, so on May 20, I went online and purchased four adult and one child tickets using a DVC discount. The total cost for all five was $269, including taxes. The MVMCP tickets arrived in the mail within a week.

Next on the “to do” list was getting park tickets for Selene, John, and Jaidyn. Helena and I decided to give them a set of APs as their Christmas gifts for this year. We gave Selene the good news and told her to purchase the APs on her credit card so that she could get the Florida-resident discounted rate and we’d send a check to reimburse her for the cost. She made the purchase online on July 9, at a total cost of $1,105, including taxes, for two adult and one child Florida-resident APs. We mailed her the reimbursement check a couple days later.

For the Disney World part of our month in Florida, everything had now been taken care of except for Advance Dining Reservations (ADRs), but with the 90-day window still in effect, our reservation window wouldn’t open until September 2. In the meantime, we made appointments for our annual medical checkups in the Deerfield Beach area. Once those appointments had been locked in, I used points at our non-Disney timeshare for a 4-night/5-day stay at Bluegreen’s Gulfstream Manor in Delray Beach, which is a short distance north of Deerfield Beach and within a 1/2-hour drive from the doctors. We’ll be staying at Gulfstream Manor from December 8 to 12. Because this was a timeshare transaction, the only cost was a small reservation fee of about $35.

We needed just one more hotel reservation, and that was at the Hampton Inn in Port St. Lucie for the night before our flight home. Our return flight to St. Thomas was scheduled to depart from Miami International at 1:00pm on Sunday, December 27, and we would leave Port St. Lucie around 6:00am to drive down to Miami. We’ve found that the early Sunday morning drives from Port St. Lucie to Miami are much more relaxed and stress-free than making the drive on a workday with all of the commuter traffic. However, so as not to wake Selene and family when we’re getting ready to leave their home and lugging our baggage out the front door, we like to stay that last night at a nearby hotel, and the Hampton Inn has always been comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful. In fact, some of them have recognized us from prior visits, so that’s always welcoming. I made the Hampton Inn reservation on July 30, at the rate was $144, including taxes for one night in a king bed non-smoking room.

The ADR window finally opened on September 2. However, on that date, the theme park hours and schedules were only available on the Disney World website for some of the parks. That meant I had to guess about the other parks based on last year’s park schedules for the same time of year and hope for the best. Around 8:00am on September 2, I called Disney Dining to make my ADRs. (I chose not to use the new online reservation system because the internet connections down here in the islands are notoriously slow and the Disney websites are already slow to begin with. I didn’t want anything going wrong while I was in the middle of the process.) Anyway, the Disney Dining cast member (CM) was very helpful and had my reservations all made within 15 minutes. Thankfully, I was able to get all of the restaurants and within minutes of the times I wanted. So, I’m really happy at this point.

We’ll be eating breakfast in our SSR room, and getting light snacks at the parks as needed between meals. But the focus for the main meal each day will be on getting as much character interaction as possible for Jaidyn. So, there’ll be no Le Cellier, Teppan Edo, or Brown Derby on this trip. On our check-in day (Tuesday), we’ll have dinner at the Turf Club at SSR. Wednesday it’s the Magic Kingdom and dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. Thursday it’s Animal Kingdom and lunch at the Yak & Yeti. (I know there’s a Donald Duck character breakfast at Animal Kingdom, but that means a little too much rushing around real early in the morning to get from SSR to AK.) Friday it’s Hollywood Studios and lunch at Hollywood & Vine with JoJo & Goliath and the Little Eiensteins. Saturday it’s Epcot and dinner at the Garden Grill with Chip & Dale, Pluto, and Mickey. And Sunday, we’ll return to the Magic Kingdom and have a home-style dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern before heading back outside for MVMCP.

Normally I like to arrive at Disney World as early as possible on check-in day and leave as late as possible on check-out day so that we can use that extra time either at a theme park or at Downtown Disney. But this trip is going to be a bit different because Jaidyn is now a schoolgirl and we have to try accommodate her school schedule. Jaidyn is enrolled in an academically-oriented pre-K program that’s financially supported by the State of Florida. As a result, they have very strict attendance requirements, and the children are only allowed three unexcused absences each month. So, on our SSR check-in day, we won’t be leaving Port St. Lucie until after Jaidyn gets out of school at 2:00pm, meaning we won’t be arriving at SSR until sometime after 5:00pm. And on our check-out day, we have to get on the road around 7:00am so that Jaidyn can get to school by her 11:00am start time. Even so, she’s going to miss three school days.

Well, that about does it for trip planning, except for keeping our fingers crossed that the waitlist for Boardwalk Villas comes through ... but quite frankly, I’m not optimistic at all. Our final itinerary looks like this:

- Fri 11/27: AA Flight from St. Thomas to Miami, Drive to Port St. Lucie
- Sat 11/28 to Mon 11/30: Visit with Selene and Family
- Tue 12/1: Drive to Orlando, SSR Check-In, Dinner ADR at Turf Club
- Wed 12/2: Magic Kingdom, Dinner ADR at Crystal Palace
- Thu 12/3: Animal Kingdom, Lunch ADR at Yak & Yeti
- Fri 12/4: Hollywood Studios, Lunch ADR at Hollywood & Vine
- Sat 12/5: Epcot, Dinner ADR at Garden Grill
- Sun 12/6: Magic Kingdom, Dinner ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, MVMCP
- Mon 12/7: SSR Check-Out, Drive to Port St. Lucie
- Tue 12/8 to Sat 12/12: Drive to Deerfield Beach, Annual Medical Appointments
- Sat 12/12 to Sat 12/19: Drive to Fort Lauderdale, Open for Followup Medical Appointments
- Sat 12/19 to Sat 12/26: Drive to Port St. Lucie, Christmas with Selene and Family
- Sun 12/27: Drive to Miami, AA Flight to St. Thomas

Stop the Presses!

In early August, Helena hurt her back, and soon after started suffering from pains radiating down her left leg. We immediately knew that this was the classic sign of a pinched nerve in the lower back. After visiting our primary doctor, who referred us to a neurologist, and then haggling with our health insurance company to pre-approve the needed lower spine MRI, in mid-September Helena finally was able to get the MRI, which confirmed that she has two herniated discs in her lower spine that are pinching a nerve. Our primary doctor strongly recommended that we go to Florida to have a spine specialist review Helena’s case to determine whether surgery is needed. On October 16, we were finally able to confirm an initial consultation appointment with the Spine Clinic at the Fort Lauderdale branch of the Cleveland Clinic (a “top five” ranked medical center). In the meantime, Helena is undergoing physical therapy three days a week and taking painkillers, as needed, to help relieve the leg pain. But Helena’s back condition is definitely going to affect our touring of the theme parks in some way. Most likely she’ll only be able to spend a few hours in the parks with the rest of us. Even so, she might need to use a wheelchair or scooter to get around the parks. All that walking will be tough. We’ll have to consider our options before arriving at Disney World in December.

To complicate matters more, effective October 1, Jaidyn’s pre-K changed their unexcused absence policy to no more than two days per month (previously it was three days per month and we had planned our trip around that policy). This means that Selene, John, and Jaidyn won’t be able to accompany Helena and I to SSR on our December 1 check-in day. They’ll have to remain in Port St. Lucie until after Jaidyn’s pre-K session is finished on December 2 and then drive up to Orlando to join us that afternoon. This means they’ll essentially miss our first planned day at the Magic Kingdom. On getting the bad news, I immediately called Disney Dining to try to change our Crystal Palace ADR from 4:30p to something (anything) later. But the Crystal Palace was completely booked for that day. I also tried the online ADR system and got the same result -- all booked up. I even tried (on the phone and online) to change our Liberty Tree ADR on December 6 to the Crystal Palace instead, with the same result -- absolutely nothing available for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Our only hope now is that Helena and I can stall checking in at the Crystal Palace on December 2 long enough for Selene and family to arrive at the Magic Kingdom after their drive up from Port St. Lucie. It’s really a shame that a last-minute change in policy at the pre-K program is probably going to deprive Jaidyn of a chance to meet Pooh and friends on this trip. But the alternative is to thumb our noses at the school system’s rules and possibly get Jaidyn expelled as a result. We don’t think it’s worth the risk, as there’ll be other opportunities for her to visit with Pooh and friends in the future.

What Actually Happened:

Friday, November 27:
The Plan: AA Flight from St. Thomas to Miami, Drive to Port St. Lucie

We had set the alarm for 4:30am, and it didn’t fail to wake us up in the dark of the morning. We showered, had a light breakfast, and packed the last few items into our overweight suitcase (54 pounds per our bathroom scale). A short 5 minute drive later, we were at my brother’s home. He drove us to the airport, where we arrived at just about 6:30am for our 9:10am flight. There were absolutely no other passengers there, and check-in was a snap. Because I had done the online check-in at aa.com the night before, we already had our boarding passes, but we still had the one suitcase to check. We were fully expecting to have to pay American Airline’s $50 overweight fee, but the service rep never even mentioned the 4 extra pounds, so we only had to pay the $15 charge for the first piece of checked luggage.

We stopped for a few minutes to fill out the mandatory U.S. Customs declaration form (we had nothing to declare) and were quickly through the customs check. Security was also empty, and we were able to just take our time in getting our carry-ons (two backpacks, Helena’s purse, and my laptop computer) through the x-ray screening. A couple rolls of quarters in Helena’s backpack were flagged, but she had put them in the front pocket of her backpack, so they were easy to get to.

Once at our gate, we just relaxed and people-watched most of the time. We also stopped by the airport shop and picked up a couple St. Thomas t-shirts for Jaidyn. When the service counter was opened, I got in line and asked if we could be included in the pre-boarding group because Helena has been having a problem with stairs because of her bad back. At St. Thomas, passengers board the airliners through stairs, not the jetways that are customary at larger airports.

Our plane (a Boeing 757) left the gate right on time, but we had a short delay in actually taking off as we waited for landing air traffic to clear the runway. The flight was completely smooth and turbulent-free (the best kind) and I spent the time watching the in-flight movie, “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock, while Helena slept most of the way. As we started to descend into the Miami airport, the pilot came on to let us know that the winds near the surface were gusty, which meant some turbulence. This was a bit unsettling because I knew that turbulence during landing is not something you really want. Nevertheless, the pilot guided the plane down as smoothly as possible and we were soon safely on the ground.

When we deplaned in the D concourse, we were surprised to find an American Airlines service rep waiting for us with a wheelchair for Helena. We assume the rep in St. Thomas had ordered one when we had asked for pre-boarding. We zipped through some shortcuts and were soon in the baggage claim area, where our checked bag was just coming out on the conveyor belt. The service rep went the “extra mile” by wheeling Helena out to the Hertz shuttle pickup area, and we tipped her $10. A few minutes later, we were at the Hertz facility just outside the airport. That’s when the delays began.

In all the years we’ve been traveling to Miami in December, we’ve never had more than 4 or 5 people in line ahead of us. Today it was a madhouse, and I counted no less than 30 people ahead of me. To make matters worse, half of the check-in stations were not staffed. On top of that, once I had finally checked in, we still had to wait another 15 minutes before the car was brought down from the service area. In all the whole experience took an hour and 10 minutes! At least we had quite a nice car, a Nissan Altima with Maryland license plates. Something a bit unusual was that the car didn’t have any keys (at least in the traditional sense). An electronic “key” locked and unlocked the doors, but turning the engine on and off was just a matter of pushing a button on the dash. Also, the usual NeverLost GPS system voice (“Sarah”) had a companion (who we called “Helga”). “Sarah” called out the driving directions, while “Helga” chimed in with the street names. Frankly, it was a bit disconcerting hearing this strange voice coming out of the GPS box.

We were finally on the road around 1:00pm on our way North on I-95. We stopped in Deerfield Beach for a short rest stop and lunch at a familiar Boston Market before continuing on to Port St. Lucie. The drive all the way up from Miami to Port St. Lucie was completely uneventful, as the traffic was unusually light for a Friday afternoon, especially since it was also the day after Thanksgiving. We pulled into Selene’s driveway around 4:00pm, to be greeted by Selene, John, and Jaidyn at the front door. Little Jaidyn warmed up to us immediately, and we settled in to a relaxing family evening after a long travel day.

Saturday, November 28 to Monday, November 30:
The Plan: Visit with Selene and Family

The weekend was basically a time for us to chill out with Selene and family, give Helena some time to recuperate from some stressful family matters back home, and for us to get ready for our week at Walt Disney World beginning on December 1.

Since mid-October, I’d been checking the online dining reservation system, often a couple times each day, to see if I could get a slightly later reservation at the Crystal Palace on Wednesday, December 2 to allow Selene, John, and Jaidyn more time to drive up from Port St. Lucie. The reservation we originally had was for 4:30pm but, with Jaidyn not being able to skip school that day, it meant that Selene and family wouldn’t be able to start their drive to Orlando until after 2:00pm. Getting to the Crystal Palace by 4:30pm would be next to impossible.

Each time I tried the online system to change the reservation, I was met by the same result -- no space available. Well, I tried one last time on Sunday, November 29 and finally got some good luck. I was able to book an online reservation for 5:35p, which gives Selene and family an extra hour to get to the Magic Kingdom. Thank you, disneyworld.com! The following day, I called the dining reservation number to confirm the new 5:35p reservation and cancel the original one for 4:30p.

On Monday, November 30, Helena, Selene, and I took Jaidyn to school and then went to the local Walmart to load up on breakfast items and a few other things we’d be using up at Disney World. Helena and I would be driving up the next day and checking into SSR, but Selene, John, and Jaidyn wouldn’t be able to join us until late on Wednesday, December 2.

Tuesday, December 1:
The Plan: Drive to Orlando, SSR Check-In, Dinner ADR at Turf Club

Helen and I awoke around 8:00pm, had a light breakfast and started loading up the car for our drive to Orlando. We didn’t actually leave Selene’s home until around 11:30am. We were soon Northbound on the Florida Turnpike and had an absolutely smooth ride all the way to SSR. We arrived at the SSR guardhouse at 1:25pm, after almost exactly 2 hours on the road. The guard checked my driver’s license against her list of guest names and bid us “Welcome Home!” At the Carriage House, there was no one in line for the online check-in desk, although the regular check-in line had several families waiting for a customer rep to become available. Cast Member Mark (from Tucson, AZ) quickly found our registration packet, showed us on the SSR map where our room (4335) was located, and printed out a second parking permit for Selene and John’s car when they arrived the next day. We were out of the Carriage House in less than 15 minutes, if that long.

I misread the room number and headed into the parking area for the 3000-block building when I should have gone to the 4000-block building, but quickly realized my mistake and was soon parking in the correct place. Helena and I took our backpacks and went up to check out our room. Everything was as we expected, and we were pleasantly surprised to find a towel “hidden Mickey” on our bed. We were also happy to see the nice view of the central lagoon that we had from our third floor balcony. Helena continued to check out the 2-bedroom suite while I went back down to the car for the box of groceries, two cases of bottled water, and our suitcase. Luckily, I had a small package trolley and brought everything up in just two trips.

We then spent some time unpacking and putting everything away and then went back to the car to drive to the Gooding’s market at the Crossroads shopping area for a few cold storage items. Because we didn’t know whether our room would be ready at our planned early arrival time, we had only brought the dry goods grocery items with us from Port St. Lucie. We spent almost $69, including tax, at Gooding’s for things like milk, orange juice, bread, butter, cheese, ham, fresh fruits. I think we were back at our room unpacking and storing those items within the hour.

By now, it was around 4:30pm, and we had a 5:00pm ADR at the Turf Club. So, we took a slow walk over and spent a few minutes browsing through the items in the small shop at the Artists Palette food court. I ended up buying the Fantasmic music CD for $20, including tax. From there, we headed over to the Turf Club for a fine and very filling dinner consisting of the pork tenderloin for Helena and the New York strip steak for me. We both had the apple pie with ice cream for dessert. We saved $14 off the bill by using our Tables in Wonderland card from last December, and the net cost of the meal was $75 including taxes and gratuity for our server, Brett (from Salina, KS).

Back at our room, Helena caught the 7:00pm repeat of the Young and the Restless on SoapNet while I downloaded a few pictures I had taken throughout the day and posted a few of them to my Facebook account (that’s something new since August). As I’m finishing up these trip notes, it’s almost 11:00pm and I’ve taken longer than usual because of the pleasant distraction of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show on CBS. :-) Helena’s already in bed and I’ve already showered, so it’s lights out. We plan to go to the Magic Kingdom tomorrow and hope that Selene, John, and Jaidyn make it up here by the 5:35pm ADR time at the Crystal Palace. There’s a strong possibility of rain tomorrow, and that might slow their drive up from Port St. Lucie and make our day of park touring somewhat unpleasant. But let’s see what happens.


Wednesday, December 2:
The Plan: Magic Kingdom, Dinner ADR at Crystal Palace

Helen and I woke to the alarm clock at 6:00am and we watched the news and, especially, the weather reports for about a half-hour before actually getting out of bed to shower, get dressed, and eat a light breakfast in our room. A cold front was due in the Orlando area by 9:00pm, but it shouldn’t be a worry for us during the day.

We left the room just about 8:00am and were at the bus stop within 5 minutes. Our Magic Kingdom bus arrived just as we got there, but the driver took a few minutes to load a wheelchair passenger. The ride to the Magic Kingdom took about 15 minutes, and we arrived at the park by 8:25am. We were through the security check and the turnstiles within a few minutes after that. There were lines of guests waiting for rope drop at the entrance tunnels, but it wasn’t really a huge crowd. We hung back near the middle of the entrance plaza to catch the Magic Kingdom opening ceremony, which started promptly at 8:45am.

Once the park was open, we followed the crowd inside and stopped at the Main Street Station to take a couple pictures of Main Street and Cinderella’s Castle. We noticed that the main Christmas tree wasn’t up yet, but all of the other Christmas decorations seemed to already be in place. We got a few PhotoPass pictures taken down on Main Street and again at the Castle hub, and then made our way to Tomorrowland.

The first order of business was to check out the Emporium to see if we could find a large Stitch plush toy. Jaidyn has had a small plush Stitch since her 2007 visit to Disney World and she has it with her almost all the time. But she has said that she wants a “big Stitch” for Christmas. Luckily, we found one that’s almost as big as Jaidyn herself, and we bought it, plus a decorative throw blanket that was on sale, at a total cost of $66. We had the package sent to SSR for pickup tomorrow afternoon.

We then headed over to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, which was a complete walk-on. There was actually no one else in the queue with us. Of course, Helena wiped me out again with scores of 101,400 to 10,700, but I know that my laser gun wasn’t working properly because I had tested it on some close up, stationary targets, and there was no red light being emitted from it most of the time. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!

We bought a 5x7 print of the ride photo and got a second 5x7 print free. We then headed right back into the Buzz Lightyear queue for another walk-on ride. Although there were other people in there with us this time, the line still kept moving continuously. I lost to Helena again, but this time the scores were 112,200 to 54,700.

We then started to head over to the Carousel of Progress, but noticed that the doors was just closing, so we instead took a ride on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. We noticed a few more details inside the Space Mountain section of the ride than we have in the past (probably due to the recent refurbishment), and overall the ride was a quiet diversion. We stopped at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe for some orange juice and sat at a table to enjoy Sonny Eclipse’s musical renditions while we drank the juices.

As we exited and were passing by the Tomorrowland Speedway, I asked Helena if she wanted to ride. She agreed, since she had never ridden on this attraction before. My last ride was over 20 or 25 years ago when Selene was a little girl. It was a fun little ride, but I’d like to try the real thing -- the Richard Petty Experience -- sometime in the future.

Next stop was Fantasyland, where we took in Mickey’s PhilharMagic and “it’s a small world,” both as walk-ons. At PhilharMagic, we had our first encounter of this trip with people stopping in the middle of
the rows although the CMs asked that we move down to the end of the rows.

We didn’t stop for any of the dark rides in Fantasyland, and instead headed over to the Haunted Mansion, which was yet another walk-on. From there, we headed over to the Hall of Presidents for our first viewing of the revised show. There was a 10 minute wait for the earlier showing to finish, and we were soon let into the theater. I was surprised to hear the CM announce that absolutely no photography was allowed during the show. I know this wasn’t the case with the earlier version of the Hall of Presidents, and I also know that I’ve seen many photos of the new show both on MousePlanet and MiceAge. I was very moved by the new show and believe it does an excellent and unbiased job at portraying the contributions of some of the more prominent Chief Executives over the years. They included George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy. President George W. Bush was also presented, in connection with 9-11, before the introduction of current President Barack Obama.

As we were getting out of the Hall of Presidents, we heard the music from Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee, and rushed over to the water’s edge to catch the Liberty Belle just beginning to move away from her landing with the catchy music from the upcoming animated feature “The Princess and the Frog.” I know I’m really looking forward to seeing this film to see if Disney Animation has recaptured the magic of the big traditionally animated hits, especially the string of musicals that started with “The Little Mermaid.”

After Tiana’s showboat sailed away, we took the “restroom shortcut” over to Adventureland, where we did the Jungle Cruise, with a 15 minute standby wait, and then Pirates of the Caribbean with another walk-on ride. By now it was lunchtime, but we didn’t want to eat anything heavy because we had an early dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace. So, Helena and I headed back to Main Street and eventually settled on the Main Street Bakery, where Helena had a croissant and I had an apple turnover, both with root beer. The cost of this snack lunch was just under $10.

We later headed over to Frontierland to catch the next showing of the Country Bears Jamboree. I always enjoy this show, but really miss the special Christmas edition. If Disneyland can present holiday versions of the Haunted Mansion and “it’s a small world,” why on Earth can’t Disney World present the holiday version of the Country Bears?

Anyway, after the Country Bears, we went back to Liberty Square for a repeat viewing of the Hall of Presidents. This time we had only a 5 minute wait before the next showing. Again the CM announced that photography was not allowed, but a different CM who introduced the production when we were inside the theater said that “no flash photography or videotaping is permitted” and that “the use of view screens is also not allowed.” Well, I took that to mean I could use my digital camera with viewfinder (not a view screen). But I was still somewhat self-conscious about the first CM’s warning and eventually only took one photo, at the very end of the show when the background turns into a waving American flag.

As we exited the Hall of Presidents, we noticed that people were already lined up for the Celebrate Disney Dreams Come True Parade. The best viewing spots were already taken, but we stood behind a group of people who were seated on the pavement and got a decent enough view when the parade passed. This was the first time that Helena and I had ever seen this year’s variation of the “Dreams Come True” parade. I was struck my how beautiful the CM who portrayed Belle was during the parade (I had never seen her portraying Belle before), and made a comment to Helena. That was a mistake because she kept ribbing me about the comment the rest of the afternoon. I joked that I was going to put Belle’s picture up as the new wallpaper on my laptop when we got back to our room tonight. :-)

After the parade, we again took the shortcut to Adventureland and walked into to a showing of the Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. I really don’t remember the entire original Tiki Room show, but I don’t find this one to be as awful as some people make it out to be.

Anyway, after being serenaded by the birds and the tiki gods, we headed over to the vicinity of the Crystal Palace to sweat out whether Selene, John, and Jaidyn would make it up from Port St. Lucie in time for our 5:35pm ADR. As I’ve mentioned before, the new strict absenteeism policy of Jaidyn’s pre-K program meant that she can’t miss more than 2 days of classes unless she has a doctor’s note. She didn’t have a doctor’s note prescribing a visit to Disney World, so Jaidyn had to go to school today. (She’ll miss on Thursday and Friday -- her 2-day limit.)

As it turned out, Selene and family made it right on time, walking up to the Crystal Palace at exactly 5:35pm. They couldn’t have made it in better time if they had a police escort up from Port St. Lucie! Once they were there, I went to the check-in window and was given a pager. It went off within 10 minutes, and we were soon seated inside with Eyore just a couple tables away. Kerri (I didn’t catch the hometown on her name tag) was our server, and she took good care of us, although she certainly wasn’t the most engaging server we’ve ever had at Disney World. The food and, especially, desserts were quite good for a buffet, and the net cost was $153, after a Tables in Wonderland discount of $31 and plus gratuity and taxes.

When Eyore first approached our table, Jaidyn looked at him skeptically, but she soon warmed up to him and to Piglet, Tigger, and Pooh as they each came to our table in turn. While we were finishing up, Eyore came around a second time and, at the time, only Helena and I were seated at our table. I went to take a picture of him with Helena, but he took the camera out of my hand and gave it to a gentleman at the table next to us and gestured for him to take a picture of Helena and I with Eyore. That was a really cute experience.

After dinner, we went outside to find that everyone was lined up along Main Street to see the SpectroMagic parade, which was starting in just a few minutes. Again, we didn’t have the best of spots to see the parade, but we did the best we could under the circumstances. After SpectroMagic, Helena and I decided to head back to SSR, while Selene, John, and Jaidyn chose to take a chance on the threatening weather to see Wishes. Helena and I headed back down Main Street and to the bus stop, where an SSR bus was just pulling away. A second one arrived about 15 minutes later and soon left the station completely filled. Of course, our stop at The Springs was the last one, and we got back to our room just as it started to rain lightly.

Selene and family got back to our room by 10:00pm and began to settle in, unpacking their suitcase and getting Jaidyn ready for bed. Helen was asleep by 11:00pm, and I posted a few of the day’s photos to Facebook and wrote these trip report notes until 1:10am. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom, and I think I’m going to be sleepy when the alarm goes off at 6:00am again.

Thursday, December 3:
The Plan: Animal Kingdom, Lunch ADR at Yak & Yeti

A wicked thunderstorm passed through Orlando overnight, but the morning was dry and pleasant, if overcast. Helena and I were awake at 6:00am and followed our routine of relaxing in bed watching the news and weather forecast until 6:30am and then getting showered and dressed and having breakfast. Selene and family, in the adjoining second bedroom, got up closer to 7:00am and went through a similar routine. We were at the nearby bus stop by 8:00am and the Animal Kingdom bus arrived within a couple minutes. We arrived at the park around 8:30am and were through the security check and turnstiles without any problems. Selene and John stopped to rent a stroller for Jaidyn, getting a multi-day rental for about $50.

We followed the growing crowd through the Oasis and were stopped on the bridge to Discovery Island for Animal Kingdom’s opening ceremony with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. When the rush had passed, we got a couple PhotoPass pictures taken with the Tree of Life in the background. Once over the bridge, we headed to the area near the It’s Tough to Be a Bug exit to get FastPasses (FPs) at the new central location that I had heard about. But the machines were all covered up. So, instead we headed over to Africa.

I stopped to get Kilimanjaro Safari FPs while the rest of the group went ahead to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I got the FPs within a few minutes, but there was a mis-communication and I didn’t know that they had stopped at the Mombasa Marketplace to pick up a couple items before going into the Pangani Trail. I went in at a good clip to try to catch up with the others, but by the time I got to the gorilla enclosures, I was wondering where they were. I stopped to look at the gorillas, which were all fully visible and active, enjoying their morning meals. One was chasing his meal with a bucket of water. Still seeing no sign of the others, I continued through the trail at a fast pace to try to catch up. I never did. Once at the exit, I called Selene on her cell phone and asked where they were, and she said that they were just now reaching the gorilla enclosure. I just sat on a bench near the trail exit and waited for them to eventually find me.

They appeared about 15 minuted later and we all went on the Kilimanjaro Safari, using our FPs. The safari ride was a good one, and Jaidyn seemed to enjoy seeing all of the animals, including the illusive male lion and cheetahs (or is it leopards?). We then headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey for the 11:00am showing of the Festival of the Lion King, arriving there just as the theater’s doors were opened. The adults enjoyed the show, but little Jaidyn was all grumpy because she wanted to “go on rides,” not see shows. I continue to regard the Festival of the Lion King as perhaps the best live entertainment offering in all of Walt Disney World. The show is so energetic and the music so enjoyable.

After retrieving Jaidyn’s stroller, we headed all the way across to Dinoland USA to give Jaidyn the rides she wanted. First up was TriceraTop Spin, which we all rode for the very first time. Then we took a big chance by going on Dinosaur with Jaidyn. Helena sat out this ride because the herniated discs in her back wouldn’t be helped by all of the jostling and jerking of this ride. Selene came through the dark and scary ride like a trooper, although she did say that the ride was “scary” and that she didn’t want to ride it again. At the exit, I bought a couple 5x7 prints of the ride photo.

By this time it was approaching 12:30pm and we had a 1:00pm ADR at the Yak and Yeti. So, we headed in that direction to check in. We were seated within 5 minutes. Hector (from Puerto Rico) was our server, and he was on the ball getting and refilling our drinks, and making sure that we were taken care of. Helena and Selene had the crisp honey chicken with jasmine rice, John had the ribs, and I had the sweet and sour chicken with brown rice. Jaidyn didn’t want anything from the kid’s menu, and just wanted some white rice. For dessert, Helena and I shared a brownie sundae, and Selene and Jaidyn shared one of there own, while John had the wontons and ice cream. The net bill was $123, including taxes, gratuity, and minus an $18 AP discount (the Tables in Wonderland card was not accepted at this non-Disney restaurant).

Next stop was the nearby Maharajah Jungle Trek, and this time I didn’t get separated from the others. Jaidyn seemed to like the bats and, especially, the majestic tigers. One was resting right in front of the viewing area near the water pool, while two others were walking about the same area. A fourth tiger was fast asleep in a later enclosure.

We left the Jungle Trek intending to stake out a place to view the Mickey’s Jingle Jungle Parade, but after looking at riders on the Kali River Rapids from the bridge near the ride exit area, Jaidyn announced that she wanted to ride “the boats.” Selene and John obliged her by riding three times back-to-back! Of course, they all got wet, but Selene and Jaidyn had worn ponchos and were only a “little” wet. John, didn’t wear a poncho and was absolutely soaked, shoes and all.

We still had time to see the parade, which hadn’t yet started, but as we started walking in the direction of Discovery Island, we just didn’t see any viewing areas that had space for us to squeeze into. So we just kept heading for the park exit. After Selene and John dropped off the stroller, we headed to the bus stop, where an SSR bus had just left. Happily, another arrived within 10 minutes. (So far, we’ve had excellent luck with the buses, never having to wait more than 15 minutes, which was when leaving the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday night after SpectroMagic. I hope our luck holds out for the rest of the trip.)

Back at SSR, Selene and family headed to our room, while Helena and I went to the Artists Palette to pick up the package we had delivered from the Magic Kingdom yesterday. When we got back to the room, we all just chilled out for a while. Around 8:00pm, Selene and John went over to Downtown Disney to look for some sushi at Wolfgang Pucks. Helena and I stayed with Jaidyn, who was already in bed and asleep. I took the opportunity to upload a few of the day’s photos to Facebook, check out the PhotoPass pictures we had so far, and update the trip report notes. Selene and John got back around midnight, and we all went to bed for the night.

Friday, December 4:
The Plan: Hollywood Studios, Lunch ADR at Hollywood & Vine

Helena and I awoke at 6:00am and went through our morning routine, and we were soon joined by Selene, John, and Jaidyn at the breakfast nook. The weather reports were not looking good, with an 80% chance of rain forecast for pretty much the entire day. At least the temperatures would be no lower than 60 degrees, which is tolerable without too much bundling up.

We arrived at the bus stop around 8:10am and a Hollywood Studios bus rolled in just as we were walking up to the stop. About 15 minutes later, we were at the Studios with a very light rain starting to fall. After getting through the security check, we donned our rain ponchos and got in line at the turnstiles, which were not yet open. They finally did at 8:45am, and our first stop was to pick up a stroller for Jaidyn. The official rope drop took place on Hollywood Boulevard while we were occupied there, but we started down the street just a few minutes later. We stopped for several PhotoPass pictures and then headed directly to Pixar Place to ride Toy Story Midway Mania -- or is it Toy Story Mania? The sign on the building includes the “Midway.”

The line to pickup FPs for the ride was all the way back to the One Man’s Dream exhibit building. Someone said that it was a 45 minute wait. The posted standby time was 20 minutes, so this was a no brainer -- we got in the standby line. This was the very first time any of us had ridden Toy Story Midway Mania, and we enjoyed all of the cool over-sized toys in the queue area. We also got a kick out of the audio-animatronic Mr. Potato Head, although Jaidyn was a little scared of him. The wait was pretty much the stated 20 minutes, and we all just loved the ride, even though we had a little big of a learning curve to score well. Are you ready for our rookie scores? Well, Helena got 66,900, John got 99,700, Selene got 102,800, and I got 103,100. I finally beat Helena at something! My strategy was to concentrate on getting the high score targets, even if my hit ratio ended up being lower than Helena’s.

As we exited the building, I saw that the FP kiosks were free, so I stopped and got FPs for all of us, with a return time of 2:10pm. While I was at the machine, I could hear in the background that the Green Army Men were giving someone some ribbing. “Here’s someone who’s in the Navy, the Old Navy, which isn’t as good as the new Navy!” When I was finished getting the FPs, I went out on the street to find that the person they were teasing was John, who was wearing an Old Navy hoodie. They had drafted him to go through the “YMCA” routine with them. And Selene got the whole thing on video, and it’s now immortalized on Facebook!

Next on our “to do” list was the Voyage of the Little Mermaid, but the next showing was still a half hour away and it was now beginning to rain harder. So, we instead headed over to the Great Movie Ride. Jaidyn seemed to enjoy ride, except for the sections with loud gunshots, namely the gangster takeover (a female gangster again) and the western gunfight scene. After this classic ride, we headed back over to the Little Mermaid, where the next showing was just a few minutes away. In fact, we were among the last people let into the theater and we had to take seats in the very last (top) row. We all enjoyed the show, including Jaidyn. I actually preferred the last row seating, because we had a better view of the laser effects presented overhead during some parts of the show.

It was still too early for our ADR at Hollywood and Vine, and moving around the park was a real pain with all of the rain. So, we just went next door to let Jaidyn enjoy the Playhouse Disney show. She watches all of the shows represented in the little skits, so she was familiar with all of the characters represented. Helena, John, and I sat on benches in the back of the theater, while Selene and Jaidyn joined the other kids and adults who sat down on the main floor. It’s a cute little show, but not one that I personally would want to see on every trip to the Studios.

It was still pouring rain as we exited Playhouse Disney and made our way over to Hollywood and Vine for lunch. We checked in about 20 minutes early for our 1:00pm ADR, and were seated immediately. Of course, this place is noisy with all of the kids and the singing and dancing going on, but we still had a nice time. June then Leo, from the Little Eiensteins, came over, followed a little while later by JoJo and then Goliath. Jaidyn was very happy to see all of the characters, and even told Goliath that she loved him! Overall, the food was quite good for what it is -- a buffet. The net total was $127, including tax and gratuity and minus a $25 Tables in Wonderland discount. Throughout the meal, our server, Susan (from Florida - possibly Merritt Island, although that’s now part of the Kennedy Space Center) was friendly and on the ball getting us drink refills and keeping the table clear of used dishes. Overall, it was a relaxing (if noisy) hour and a half.

With the rain still coming down hard, we then headed back to use our FPs for Toy Story Midway Mania. That’s when things started to go wrong. First, I only found four FPs in my wallet although I know that I had picked up five. I can only guess that I dropped one FP somewhere when I had my wallet out to pay for something. Since I was the one who lost the FP, I volunteered to sit out this go at the ride and let the other four go ahead. I told them I’d spend the time going through the exhibits in One Man’s Dream. But John noticed that the standby line was much, much shorter than when we had a 20-minute wait this morning. So, we decided to just get in the standby line (although the posted wait time was 80 minutes). John gave our four FPs to a family that was passing by.

Unfortunately, we soon noticed that the line was moving much slower than it did this morning and that the FP line had many more people in it. To make matters worse, after we had been waiting at least 50 minutes, Jaidyn announced that she had to go to the bathroom. John volunteered to take her and backtracked through the queue. As we neared the point where the standby and FP lines merged, we saw John and Jaidyn in the FP line. John had apparently explained the situation to a CM when he left, and the CM let him re-enter through the FP line and wait until we caught up with him. We all enjoyed the ride again, but Helena and I experienced a computer crash at our bonus screen that prevented us from completing that screen. (Instead of the game graphics, that last screen displayed a list of computer error messages.) Because of that, our final scores were not as high as they could have been. Even so, I beat Helena again, 69,300 to 60,400. On the other side of the ride vehicle, Selene and John didn’t have the computer problem and ended up scoring over 100,000 for Selene and 144,000 for John. BTW, Jaidyn rode on John’s lap both for this ride and the one earlier in the day, but John did the shooting.

With all of us being a bit weary of all the rain and the long wait we had just experienced (it turned out to actually be 75 minutes, or only about 5 minutes less than the posted standby time of 80 minutes), we started to head for the exist, with the rain still falling. Again we saw an SSR bus leave the stop just before we were able to get there, but luckily another showed up within 10 minutes. We were soon back in our room to relax a bit, do some laundry, post a few of the day’s pictures to Facebook, and get the trip report notes completed. Jaidyn was in bed by 8:30pm and the rest of us followed by 10:00pm. Unfortunately, the weather forecast is for continuing rain throughout the night and most of tomorrow morning, possibly not clearing until after noon. On top of that, it’s supposed to be colder tomorrow than it was today.

Saturday, December 5:
The Plan: Epcot, Dinner ADR at Garden Grill

There’s no other way to say it, we awoke at 6:00am to a crappy day in Orlando -- cold (high 50s to low 60s) and rainy weather. We went through our morning routine, but were running about a half hour later than other days. We got to the bus stop by 8:35am and within 5 minutes a whole convoy of Disney buses arrived. If they had been airplanes, they would have been stacked up circling the airfield waiting their turn to land. Of course, the last one was our bus to Epcot. But even so, we didn’t have much of a wait at all. We were at the Epcot bus terminal within 15 minutes after leaving SSR. I always hate the long walk to and from the bus stops at the theme parks, but I think the one at Epcot is the worst.

Anyway, the park was already open by the time we got to the security check, but we still made good time getting through the turnstiles. We wanted to get a PhotoPass picture taken near the entrance with Spaceship Earth in the background, but there were just too many people there waiting their turn, so we just proceeded into the park. The line for the Spaceship Earth ride was already quite long, and it looked like it might be a crowded day at the park, but it turned out not to be too bad.

The first order of business for me was to be the “go-fer” to get FPs for Soarin’. So, I rushed ahead of the others and joined the crowd who were doing the same thing. I ended up with five FPs with a return time of 10:10am. I was very careful not to lose any of the FPs this time! I eventually caught up with the others and we headed over to the Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion. This was a straight walk-on for the little ride at the beginning, and we all enjoyed it.

Once inside the main pavilion area, we headed over to Turtle Talk with Crush, which was going to start within a few minutes. Knowing that little Jaidyn is kind of shy with strangers, Selene and John took her right to the front of the floor area where the little ones sit to watch the show, and left her there while they got seats on the benches. Jaidyn didn’t make any fuss, but just sat there with the other kids. (We’re sure that her being familiar with the school-like group setting helped.) Crush soon showed up and guess what! The first child he call on to talk with was “the little girl with the pink and white striped shell.” She did very good answering a couple questions from Crush. He then asked for Jaidyn’s parents to raise their “fins” and John answered a few more questions from Crush. Selene got the whole thing on video, so that should be a treasured segment.

After Turtle Talk, we went upstairs to the viewing area and spent a good while looking at the different exhibits and the fish in the reef tank. There was a dolphin swimming circles around the side of the tank and Jaidyn was all excited each time it passed right in front of where we were viewing. A diver also entered the tank at one point for the morning feeding.

By this time, it was almost 10:00am, so we headed to the Land pavilion for our FP rides on Soarin’. While going through the FP queue at a 4-year old’s pace, a woman and two kids older than Jaidyn came running up behind us and basically pushed their way past us. No “excuse me” or anything. I just couldn’t hold it in and yelled out to her, “The ride isn’t going anyway, what’s the rush!” She didn’t respond, but just kept on going. As it turned out, I later noticed she and her two children were placed in the bank of seats on the left side, while we got seats right in the middle of the viewing area. So, her rushing past us cost her the best seats in the house. Jaidyn enjoyed the ride, as did the rest of us.

It was still kind of early for lunch, but we knew we had a 5:00pm ADR at the Garden Grill and that we couldn’t go until then without eating something. So, we stopped at the Sunshine Season food court and had a light lunch (depending on you definition of “light”). The food selections ranged from a PB&J sandwich for Jaidyn to grilled salmon, California rolls, a turkey focaccia sandwich, and rotisserie chicken for the grownups. The total cost, with soft drinks and three chocolate chip cookies was $83. Wow, because we each got our own items (charged to our room), I didn’t realize it was that much.

After lunch, we went over to the Living with the Land and got into a posted 20-minute standby line. It turned out to be more like 10 minutes, and was a relaxing little break. Jaidyn said she liked it, except for the “scary and dark” parts at the beginning. We then left the Land pavilion to find that the rain had finally let up, although the sky was still very overcast and the temperature had dropped a few degrees.

Next up was the Imagination pavilion, where we had a walk-on ride with Figment. Later, at the ImageWorks exhibit area, Jaidyn got into jumping around with several other children trying to catch the flashing tiles on the floor in one section of the pavilion. I remember that she also had a great time at this activity during our December 2007 visit, when she was only 2 years old. We also stopped a few minutes for a short promotional presentation for Kodak. I don’t remember seeing this presentation before, and it was interesting, even though it was obviously a sales pitch for Kodak products. The CM who made the presentation recruited helpers from the audience to give some tips for producing better pictures, regardless of what brand of camera you use.

We then headed over to the eastern side of Future World, where John was determined to have Jaidyn ride on Test Track, since she’s now tall enough at 40 inches. The problem was that the standby line was posted at 80 minutes. Helena hasn’t ridden Test Track in several years because of her back problems, and I also opted out because my own upper back was beginning to hurt from the added weight of the backpack I was carrying. I didn’t think my back would survive another 80-minute wait in any queue. So, John went with Selene and Jaidyn to ride Test Track. They eventually got back to where Helena and I were waiting for them a lot sooner that we had expected. They said that the standby wait was actually only about 20 minutes. The big surprise was that Jaidyn just loved the ride and said it was one of her favorites so far. I think she’s going to be a big thrill ride junkie when she grows up. She also just loves cars (Hot Wheels and the Pixar movie “Cars”), so she might turn out to be the next generation’s Danica Patrick.

While John, Selene, and Jaidyn were riding Test Track, I had slipped over to Mission: Space and got in an enjoyable trip to Mars, with no wait on the green side, and then returned to where Helena was cooling out with her paperback novel. Next, John wanted to ride the new simulator in the Sum of All Thrills exhibit at Innoventions East, so we headed over there. John and Selene went to ride, which involves designing your own ride (bobsled run, roller coaster, or jet aircraft) and then riding it in a motion simulator that consists of a virtual reality cabin attached to the end of a large robotic arm. They came back all excited about the experience, except that it included an inversion that Selene hadn’t bargained for. In the meantime, Helena and I kept Jaidyn busy at other exhibits in the pavilion.

We then took a short detour into World Showcase so that Jaidyn could ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico. This turned into a bit of a misadventure because Jaidyn had a meltdown when she got it in her mind that she wanted to walk around with her hoodie jacket draped over her head. When Selene told her “no” and took the hoodie away from her, she went ballistic, fussing and crying. But at least that didn’t last too long, and she reluctantly went on the ride with the rest of us. At the end, she said that she enjoyed the little search for Donald.

Then it was back to Test Track. Before they had ridden earlier, Selene and John had gotten FPs for 3:45pm for themselves and Jaidyn, and were going to use them now. But Jaidyn now decided that she didn’t want to ride again because she didn’t like the heat lamps section of the ride (which lasts all of 5 seconds). So, I got a chance to ride Test Track on Jaidyn’s FP. Selene, John, and I enjoyed the ride, while Helena waited on a bench in the Innoventions East building with Jaidyn. Jaidyn eventually took a little nap on Helena’s, which really perked up her frame of mind.

By now, it was almost 4:30pm, so we headed over to the Land for our 5:00pm ADR at the Garden Grill. After everyone had a potty break, I checked in and we were called within 10 minutes. Helena and I had a chance to chat with the CM who was the hostess assigned to show us to our table. Unfortunately, I don’t remember her name, but she was from Shanghai, China and had been working at Disney World for 4 months so far in a 6-month college intern program. She surprised us a bit when I asked if she had ever been to Hong Kong Disneyland and she responded that she had not, adding sheepishly that the park “isn’t very good.” She then proudly told us that a new “Disney World” (her words) was going to be built in Shanghai.

We were seated in a booth in the lower section of the Garden Grill, with Cheryl (from Boston, MA) as our server. I think I can honestly say that she was the most pleasant and entertaining server we’ve ever had at Disney World. She was exceptional with Jaidyn, even coaxing her to eat her food (Jaidyn’s a very picky eater). Selene told Cheryl that she would like to take her home with us, to which Cheryl joked that she’s had that offer before. The food was brought out in stages, family style. First the bread and salad, then the main course of flank steak, turkey breast, and mahi-mahi along with the trimmings. It wasn’t the best meal I’ve ever had at Disney World, but it was good. After all, the main attraction at the Garden Grill is the character interaction, not the food. Oh, dessert was like a cake with blueberries baked into it and a whipped cream topping. During the meal, Farmer Mickey, Pluto, Chip, and Dale all came around to our table a total of three times each. The first time, they all signed their autographs on Jaidyn’s kids menu, and each time had some memorable interactions with Jaidyn. Jaidyn was really happy to see them and gave them all big hugs. The net total for dinner was $154, including taxes and gratuity minus a $26 Tables in Wonderland discount. One unpleasant incident was that a teenage girl apparently got sick during dinner and left a long trail of “protein spills” past our table and down the entrance/exit ramp. A CM quickly covered the spills with towels, but no one had come to actually clean it up by the time we left.

The final business of the day was a return visit to Innoventions East, so that Selene and John could ride the simulator at the Sum of All Thrills exhibit. This time, Selene was up to a few inversions, and they ended up putting three of them into their simulated roller coaster. Helena, Jaidyn, and I watched from nearby as their simulator went through its paces. They were lucky to even get in this ride, because we had entered Innoventions at 6:58pm and they got the last ride of the day, since Future World closed at 7:00pm.

We headed for the park exit, with John stopping for a minute to return the rented stroller (he had picked one up around midday after the rain had stopped). Having one yesterday at Hollywood Studios was basically a waste of time, because the stroller was always filled with water from all of the rain.

Since we didn’t get a PhotoPass photo taken this morning, we stopped near the park entrance area and had a couple taken with the lighted Spaceship Earth in the background. I think this might be my favorite of the PhotoPass pics we’ve gotten so far this trip. We then exited the park and were at the bus stop for SSR by 7:15pm. A bus arrived within 10 minutes and the quiet ride in the almost empty bus took only 15 minutes. Back in our room, Selene got Jaidyn ready for bed and did some laundry, while Helena and John watched some TV and I downloaded the photos from my camera and posted a few to Facebook then worked on the trip notes. I’m closing off here at 12:45am. Tomorrow is the Magic Kingdom and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party (MVMCP).

Sunday, December 6:
The Plan: Magic Kingdom, Dinner ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern, MVMCP

Today we awoke to cool (47 degrees) but dry weather, and went through our morning routines. One thing I was glad for was that no rain was forecast for today, so I was able to leave my backpack behind. The extra weight on my back had been causing me some upper back pain all week, getting progressively more intense as the days passed.

We got to the bus stop by 8:35am and, wouldn’t you know, we had our longest wait of the entire trip. We saw buses for every other destination pass by, including a “Stitch” bus, before the one for the Magic Kingdom arrived. By that time, there was a large group of people going to the Magic Kingdom. As usually happens, people who had just arrived put themselves at the front of the pickup area, but I was determined not to miss this bus. I pushed through to the front, saying that we’d been waiting almost a half hour, and we were able to get on the bus, but no seats. It was a 20 minute ride to the Magic Kingdom with all of us holding on to the overhead railings.

The entrance plaza was just mobbed today, a sign of what the day was going to be like. We stopped in the tunnel to pick up a stroller for Jaidyn and then proceeded down Main Street. It was immediately obvious that something unusual was going on -- the filming of segments of ABC’s Christmas Day special. People were hustling around getting things set for the next segment they were going to shoot. We just ignored the commotion and proceeded to Tomorrowland, with the intent of heading to the Toontown County Fair for a ride on Goofy’s Barnstormer.

As we passed the Tomorrowland Speedway, John suggested riding the little cars, and Jaidyn was agreeable to that, so we got in line (except Helena, who had trouble getting out of the car, because of her back problems, when she and I rode earlier in the week). Selene and John rode with Jaidyn in one car, while I soloed in a second one. Jaidyn enjoyed the ride and wanted to ride again, but we postponed the second ride for later in the day.

On the way to Toontown, we made another detour, this time to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups. Again, Selene, John, and Jaidyn rode in one cup, while Helena and I shared a second one. When we got off, Jaidyn was all up for a second spin and the line was short. This time Helena and I didn’t join them, but stayed outside to take some pictures while the others rode.

After those rides, we finally went into Toontown and headed over to the Barnstormer. Unfortunately, it was down, and the CM told us to try again later in the day. So, we headed over to Fantasyland and got in the amazingly short line for the Many Adventure of Winnie the Pooh. Unfortunately, that ride was also down indefinitely.

The only thing we could do was head over to the next attraction, which was Snow White’s Scary Adventure. Jaidyn didn’t freak out on this ride, but she said, after it was over, that she didn’t want to ride it again. The Carousel and Dumbo the Flying Elephant already had long lines, so we continued down the line to ride Peter Pan’s Flight, but it also had a huge line. So, we got FPs to Neverland and moved on to “it’s a small world.” We had a nice ride -- song firmly imbedded in our brains -- and then returned for our FP ride on Peter Pan. Jaidyn also was not impressed with this ride and let us know she didn’t want to ride that one again either.

At this point, we returned to Toontown and Selene, John, and Jaidyn got an exciting ride on the Barnstormer. (Are you getting the idea? Jaidyn likes “thrill” rides, not “dark” rides.) Helena and I looked around Toontown in the meantime.

By now, it was approaching lunchtime, so we head over to Columbia Harbour House, which had almost no lines at the counters. While Helena, Selene, and Jaidyn went to get a table (there was no CM assigning tables), John and I got the food. Helena and Selene had shrimp, John had an Anchors sandwich and a bowl of chowder, I had a BLT salad, and Jaidyn had a PB&J sandwich with carrots and grapes. The total cost was $57. By the time we were finished eating, the place was absolutely mobbed. We got in at exactly the right time.

Now it was time for the big kid rides. First up was getting FPs for Big Thunder Mountain, which had a 70-minute standby wait, and then getting into the 20-minute standby line for Splash Mountain. The actual wait time was actually only about 10 minutes, and we had a great ride into the briar patch. Jaidyn enjoyed it, even the drop, and the only one who got wet was Selene, who had some over-splash on her jeans.

It was getting on in the afternoon hours and we wanted to try get Jaidyn a visit with Santa, so we headed over the Candy Cane Lane (next to City Hall) and only had a short wait while Santa took a “potty break.” Jaidyn had a nice little visit with Santa, telling him that she wanted a big Stitch for Christmas. (Jaidyn has had a small Stitch plush since her visit to Disney World in 2007, but now wanted a larger Stitch. Santa will bring her one, it’s already in the bag!) We also made a quick stop in City Hall to find out when and where the armbands would be distributed for tonight’s MVMCP. We were told that the main distribution point was at the rose garden near the entrance to Tomorrowland, beginning around 4:00pm.

One interesting note was that while we were walking to and waiting for Santa at Candy Cane Lane, we saw Kelly Ripa, of “Regis and Kelly Live,” recording some of her narration for the Christmas Day special on ABC-TV. We could also hear a production person giving instructions to the participating audience members and the cast of the production as they were taping some of the parade elements coming down Main Street.

Jaidyn wanted to ride the Tomorrowland Speedway again, so we next went for that ride, with a stop to get FPs for Buzz Lightyear. Of course, the line for the Speedway was quite long by then, so Selene, John, and Jaidyn went to ride while Helena and I got seats in the bleachers to wait for them. About half an hour later, they were boarding their car and heading out on the road. Jaidyn wanted to ride again, but with the long lines, that wasn’t going to happen.

Instead, we went over to use our Buzz Lightyear FPs. We all had fun and, of course, Helena beat my score once again. But the actual scores weren’t comparable with our scores from Wednesday because the ride stopped for a few minutes, letting us continue to rack up points hitting the targets right in front of us. Helena’s final score was 244,000 and mine was around 101,200. I don’t remember Selene and John’s scores.

We then stopped by the rose garden to pick up our MVMCP armbands, and here is where we had the most brazen rude guest encounter of the week. A young (20ish) couple stepped right in front of Helena and I as if we didn’t even exist. There was a small space between us and the people in front of us and this couple just stepped right in. I couldn’t hold my tongue. I said (just loud enough for them to hear me) “Excuse me?” No reaction. “Some people have no sense of courtesy!” No reaction. “Expletive deleted!” Still no reaction. I was absolutely steaming at that point, but tried to calm myself down and not create a scene. As fate would have it, the queue line split into two, and we ended up getting through the process before this couple, so that gave me some small sense of satisfaction. As I write this I’m still amazed and steamed at how brazen this young couple was. I hope they don’t represent the next generation, because if they do, we’re all in trouble! We must get rid of this “me first” mentality that seems to be growing within society.

By now, it was getting close to the time for our 4:30pm ADR at the Liberty Tree Tavern, so we headed back over to Liberty Square. We were seated within 5 minutes of checking in, and it was obvious that the Tavern wasn’t as mobbed as when it was a character meal location. Our server was Michael (Pittsburgh, PA), and he soon started bringing over our drinks and the family style servings of turkey, ham, and flank steak with the various sides, plus apple cobbler and ice cream for dessert. The net cost, including taxes and gratuity minus a $27 Tables in Wonderland discount, was $139.

After the relaxing break, we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain for our FP ride. I’m not a thrill ride fan and I tend to keep away from roller coasters. But this is one that I’ve ridden before. I must say that the ride is more intense at night! Jaidyn liked parts of the ride that were outside, but not the dark tunnels.

We then headed back to the Castle hub area to wait for the beginning of MVMCP. The place was absolutely mobbed. This was a completely different experience than when Helena and I first attended this event in 2003. At that time, there was a relatively small crowd and it felt special and intimate. This was just a “Christmas Day crowd” on December 6th.

We went to the Tomorrowland bridge and got a few PhotoPass pictures with the lighted castle in the background, and then Selene and John took Jaidyn over for the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor show. They enjoyed the show and said that the camera kept focusing in on a gentleman who refused to play along, making it all the funnier. Helena and I stayed in the area near the bridge, which was much less crowded and hectic than the castle hub area. When the others returned from the show (with some Christmas cookies they had picked up), we wanted to catch the Christmas show to be presented on the forecastle stage, but there was absolutely no way we were going to get within viewing distance of the stage because of the crowd.

This whole experience with the MVMCP has soured me on the idea of shelling out almost $300 for what used to be, but no longer is, a special, limited attendance event. The crowd here tonight was what I would expect on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. (I commented about this extensively in an online survey I received from Disney about a week later.) Despite the crowds, I decided to stay for the parade and holiday version of Wishes, but the others decided not to stick around for the parade and fireworks. Part of the problem was that Jaidyn had to be to school the next morning, so it wasn’t a good idea to keep her up too late. (When we had originally bought the MVMCP tickets, we didn’t know that Jaidyn’s pre-school was going to change their attendance policy, meaning she could only miss 2 days of school each month.)

I was very lucky to find an excellent viewing spot for Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade right in front of the Main Street Railroad Station. The parade itself was very good. Of course, the floats are just rehashed from previous versions, but the new presentation and music were enjoyable. After the parade, I slowly headed up to the castle end of Main Street to view the fireworks. I got as close as possible, considering the large crowd, and just enjoyed the special Holiday Wishes fireworks from there. Heading back to the exit after the show started out to be a challenge because of the crowd, but for some reason it thinned out quickly, and I found myself with only a few other people headed towards the bus stops.

There were about 10 people ahead of me at the bus stop, and a bus arrived within 15 minutes. But that’s when the “bus ride from hell” started. The driver, an older lady, had to load two handicapped passengers, which took almost forever. Then she had a problem getting some lever moved at her driver’s station and had to get the help of another driver. Then she must have taken an alternate route because it took us quite a while to get to SSR. Then she had the problem again with the lever at her driver’s station before she could leave one of the bus stops. In the end, from the time the bus arrived at the Magic Kingdom until it arrived at the bus stop at SSR’s The Springs took more than an hour!

Back at the hotel, the others were either already in bed or getting ready for bed. I took a few minutes to download the day’s photos from my camera, but delayed writing up the trip notes until the next morning. I was in bed by midnight. Tomorrow is check-out day and, hopefully, a few hours at Downtown Disney for Helena and I before driving back down to Selene’s home in Port St. Lucie.

Monday, December 7:
The Plan: SSR Check-Out, Drive to Port St. Lucie

Today was “go home” day, the saddest part of any Disney vacation. Selene and family were up early to finish their packing, get a quick breakfast, and then head out to Port St. Lucie as soon as possible. They had to rush away because they had to get Jaidyn to her pre-K class by the 11:00am starting time or she would be considered absent. Selene later said that they dropped Jaidyn off at pre-K just as the bell rang. That was really cutting it close.

Meanwhile, Helena and I got up a little later, at 7:00am, and finished up our own packing and had breakfast. There wasn’t a express checkout folder at our door, so we had to make a quick trip to the Carriage House to checkout and get a copy of our statement. The CM who attended to us said that we hadn’t signed up for “express checkout” when we checked in. This must be a new requirement, because I don’t recall ever having to specifically sign up for “express checkout” on any prior Disney World trip.

We then headed back down the hill to the Springs bus stop to catch the bus to Downtown Disney. One came within 5 minutes, but its route was reverse of the one used by the theme park buses. So, we had to go along for the ride to pick up guests at the other stops at SSR. The actual ride to Downtown Disney was pretty quick after the pickups.

Helena and I started at the Marketplace section, really stopping only at a couple particular stores that we were interested in. This included the Wonderful World of Memories scrapbooking store to see what kind of selection they had of photo albums and frames, and the World of Disney to pick up a few other items as gifts for family back home. We ended up spending $99 at the World of Disney (after applying a 20% discount coupon that we had gotten at the Magic Kingdom Emporium on Wednesday) and $25 at the World of Memories.

We continued through Pleasure Islands, bypassing a small section that was blocked by construction walls, and then on to West Side, where we had lunch at Bongo’s. Helena had a Cuban-style breaded chicken breast with rice and black beans and fried plantains, while I had chicken Melanese with the same sides. The cuts of chicken were HUGE, and neither of us could finish it all because we wanted to save a little room for the traditional Cuban “flan de leche” (milk and egg custard). The total cost was $62 including tax and gratuity.

We didn’t want to get on the road back to Port St. Lucie too late, so we started heading back to the Marketplace section for a last look at a couple stores and then over to the bus stop. The short bus ride soon had us back to SSR, where we put our purchases in the trunk and hit the road. The drive out of Disney property and down the Osceola Parkway and Florida Turnpike were uneventful, although there was a short stretch where I really was struggling to keep my eyes open and my attention on the road. We arrived at Selene’s home around 4:30pm, thus bringing our Disney World vacation to an end.

Unfortunately, Helena started to feel her throat getting a little scratchy while we were on the road, and we stopped at a Walgreens near Selene’s home to pick up a few cold medications just in case. Jaidyn was happy to see us again, and we had a quiet evening at home before finally turning in for the night. Helena was in bed by 9:00pm, while I did some work on the computer, including downloading the day’s photos from my camera and writing up the day’s trip report notes. I finally turned in around 2:00am.

Tuesday, December 8 to Sunday, December 27:
The Plan: Medical Appointments in Deerfield Beach/Fort Lauderdale, Christmas with Selene and Family in Port St. Lucie, Drive to Miami for our AA Flight to St. Thomas

Since the rest of our time in Florida was basically non-Disney, I’ll just give a quick summary of what we did during that time:

During the first week (Tuesday, December 8 to Saturday, December 12) we were in the Deerfield Beach area for our annual medical followup visits with: a lung specialist for my pulmonary sarcoidosis, an oncologist for Helena’s breast checkup, and an eye clinic for our annual optical checkups. The checkups all turned out okay, except that the pressure in Helena’s eyes (from glaucoma) was a little higher than it should be. Since she’s been taking some over-the-counter cold medication for a slight head cold she picked up, the doctor wanted her to check her eyes again in a week to see if the medication was affecting the eye pressure. (The eye pressure had come down to normal by the time of the followup check.) Overall, it was a pretty hectic week, but we had a little bit of time to relax and do a little bit of shopping. We were staying in a small timeshare resort called the Gulfstream Manor, in Delray Beach, that is affiliated with our non-Disney timeshare, the Bluegreen Vacation Club.

During the second week (Saturday, December 12 to Saturday, December 19) we were staying at an RCI exchange resort in Fort Lauderdale called the Vacation Village at Weston. This RCI vacation was a bonus week that we received from Bluegreen last December and had to use before the end of 2009. The resort is located within a few blocks of the Fort Lauderdale branch of the Cleveland Clinic, where Helena had an initial visit regarding her problem with herniated discs and pinched nerves in her lower back. The doctor (a spine surgeon) said, based on reviewing the MRI’s taken back on St. Thomas and a physical check of her reflexes and arm and leg strength, that Helena’s back condition did not warrant surgery at this time. Also physical therapy Helena had done back at home had significantly decreased her pain and symptoms. Instead, he recommended that she continue with the physical therapy (which included use of an inversion table) and that she begin to do Pilates-type exercises to help strengthen her back muscles and stretch her spine. During the week, we also spent some family time with my sister, who lives in Deerfield Beach (not far from Fort Lauderdale). We also took time to catch “The Princess and the Frog” at a local theater. I wouldn’t say that it’s the best of Disney’s “princess” stories, but it certainly didn’t disappoint. I hope it does well financially, otherwise it could represent the final nail in the coffin of Disney’s traditional animation features. During the week, I also took some time to go through our PhotoPass photos, add different borders to the better ones and order a PhotoPass CD with over 60 photos.

During the third week (Saturday, December 19 to Saturday, December 26) we spent some quiet time with Selene, John, and Jaidyn, including spending a few hours at the Treasure Coast Mall in Jensen Beach on Sunday to do some last-minute shopping. We also packed up items to be shipped back home and requested home pickup through the U.S. Postal Service’s web site. Of course, the highlight of the week was Christmas Day. This was a Very Disney Christmas (VDC) for Jaidyn, since she not only received the “big puppy Stitch” that she had asked Santa for at the Magic Kingdom, but also a few of the character vehicles from “Cars” and the Wall-E and Eve characters from “Wall-E,” a Princess coloring easel and markers, and the music CD from “The Princess and the Frog.” John’s brother and sister-in-law, who live about an hour away from Port St. Lucie, and an uncle who lives in Port St. Lucie joined us for Christmas dinner. On Saturday, we spent a quiet day-after-Christmas at home with Selene and Jaidyn (it was a workday for John) and, in the early evening, drove the short distance to the Hampton Inn where we’d spend the night.

On Sunday, December 27 Helena and I made that long drive back down to Miami for our non-stop flight home to St. Thomas. We got up at 5:30am, showered and got dressed, grabbed a quick, and free, hot breakfast in the lobby of the Hampton Inn, and then headed out to I-95 ... destination Miami. We arrived without incident about 3 hours later and dropped off the rental car at the Hertz facility near the airport. A short shuttle ride later, we were at the American Airlines curbside check-in station. In addition to the $15 baggage check fee, we had to pay $50 because our suitcase was 15 pounds over the 50-pound limit. We knew it was heavy, having weighed it at Selene’s home the night before; but it was too late at that point to take anything out to mail home. Despite the security scare the day before with a terrorist attempt on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit, we didn’t find the security check to be any more strict than on prior trips. The only hangup was that I forgot to take my cell phone out of my pants pocket, so I buzzed through the metal detector. Gathering up our backpacks and computer bag, we were soon on our way to the departure gate, where we spent the 2 hours until departure time just relaxing and people watching.

Our flight left the gate right on time at 1:10pm, and the flight was absolutely smooth all the way. The in-flight movie was “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I watched it on the cabin screens, but was listening to music on my ipod during the flight. I think I’d like to see that movie again if I have a chance in the future. It looked like a poignant love story with a science fiction twist (something like “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour). Helena either read her novel or napped most of the way. We landed right on time, and my brother was there waiting for us at the baggage claim area. Luckily, our suitcase was one of the first off the carousel. We drove to my brother’s home, where my sister-in-law had prepared a small meal for us. We visited for an hour or so with the family (including my mom, who lives with them) before driving the rest of the way home. Our month in Florida had come to an end.

Conclusion:

Overview:

The whole point of this trip was to give our granddaughter, Jaidyn, a chance to experience the magic of Walt Disney World at an age where she should be able to appreciate what was going on at least a little more than when she visited at 1 and 2 years old. In that respect, I think the trip was a wonderful success. Yes, she’s an opinionated 4-year old now and she let us know what she liked and what she didn’t like. But overall, we all had a wonderful family visit with “the Mouse.”

Jaidyn proved to be the little daredevil, enjoying adult thrill rides like Soarin’, Test Track, Splash Mountain, and the Kali River Rapids, along with some tamer rides like the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, Goofy’s Barnstormer, and the Kilimanjaro Safari. On the other hand, she didn’t like the dark parts of rides like Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Peter Pan’s Flight, “it’s a small world,” Gran Fiesta with the Three Caballeros, the Great Movie Ride, Big Thunder Mountain, and especially Dinosaur. But even so, she was a real “trooper” and didn’t make a big scene about the rides she didn’t like. She just made it known that she didn’t want to ride them again. Perhaps not surprisingly, Jaidyn also wasn’t too impressed with the shows, like Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Festival of the Lion King, because she wanted “rides not shows!” Even more amazing was that, considering the hectic pace that we followed, she had only one real “meltdown,” just before the Gran Fiesta ride in Mexico.

This trip also provided the adults the opportunity to experience the parks through a child’s eyes and to get to bond with Jaidyn a little more, especially since Helena and I only get to see and spend time with her a few weeks each year. We can only look forward to more family trips in the years to come.

The Highs:

- As noted above, seeing Jaidyn’s reactions to the rides and also her happy interactions with the characters at the various dining opportunities.

- Jaidyn’s special interactions with Santa Claus and Crush the Turtle.

- The relatively small crowds and short lines during the earlier days at the parks. The only really crowded day was the last one at the Magic Kingdom, which included taping for ABC’s Christmas Day Parade during the day and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the evening.

- Finally getting a chance to ride Toy Story Midway Mania and beating everyone’s scores, even if only by a small margin. For some reason, I just don’t have as good marksmanship on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin.

- Racking up $123 in discounts on the Tables in Wonderland card. Added to $39 saved with the discount card in December 2008 and another $29 saved in April 2009, that means the card yielded a total savings of $191 ($131 net after deducting the $60 cost of the card). I think this might be a better deal than buying the Disney Dining Plan.

- Despite the pinched nerves in her lower back, Helena was able to participate in the park touring with a minimal amount of discomfort and was able to keep up the hectic pace that the rest of us set. As noted earlier, the spine specialist we saw while in Florida said that Helena did not need back surgery at this time and felt that continued therapy and Pilates exercises would be all she needed.

- Having the opportunity to see Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” This charming film joins the ranks of Disney’s classic princess fairy tales.

The Lows:

- The rainy weather that seriously cut down what we were able to accomplish during our day at the Hollywood Studios. For example, Jaidyn would have enjoyed the opportunity to meet Lightning McQueen and Mater from “Cars” near the auto stunt show stadium.

- The previously mentioned overwhelming crowds at Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. Disney needs to do a better job of making this a special and intimate event, and not just another chance to get crowds of people to pay extra money for something that’s available free during Christmas week.

- The continuing increase in the cases of rude guest encounters. As a society, we have to start returning to a sense of common courtesy and getting out of this “me first” mentality that is so pervasive.

What’s Next:

As I write this, I’ve just gotten notice that Steve Soares’ website shows that my favorite rock and roll band, The Ventures, will NOT be appearing at Epcot’s Flower and Garden Festival next Spring. That means we won’t be making a trip to Walt Disney World at that time. We’d really like to visit during the Food and Wine Festival, but that’s takes place during the peak of the hurricane season in the islands, and we don’t like to be away from home at that time of year. So, it seems most likely that our next trip to Disney World probably won’t be before December 2010. At this point, we don’t have any reservations made, so stay tuned.

Contact Info:

You can see a photo diary of our December 2009 visit to Walt Disney World on my new Facebook page beginning here. You don’t have to be a member of Facebook to see them, so feel free to visit the site:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?ai...1&l=d3eb58c762

Since I just got back home yesterday, I haven’t had a chance to add these plus other trip photos to my personal website at www.sandcastlevi.com, but I’ll post a link in this message thread when they’re available for you to view. Lastly, Helena and I welcome your comments or questions, via email at:

arnoldvb@islands.vi

Prior Trip Reports on Mouseplanet:

30 Years at Disney World: 1973 to 2003
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=67012

December 2003
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=66932

December 2004
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=67027

December 2005
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=67092

December 2006
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=68905

July 2007
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=75549

December 2007
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=88757

April 2008
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=102122

December 2008
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=123939

April 2009
http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=126592

[Toocherie]

Arnold--another wonderful, detail-filled report. I looked at some of your pictures and Jaidyn is a total cutie-pie! Hope Helena's back is better (and yours too!)

Cheryl

[arnoldvb]

Cheryl,

Thanks for the comments, and I'm glad you liked the report. Do you think Jaidyn takes after me or Helena? :-) As for the backs, Helena's is definitely better than it was in the Fall, thanks to physical therapy. Of course, she has to be careful about lifting things and bending over. My back pains are usually worse when I'm standing for a long time ... like waiting for parades or fireworks.

Enjoy your own upcoming visit.

[jmb910]

Just finished the report! I love that you were able to spend some quality time with your granddaughter. The only time I have been able to get my parents to Disney World was when we got married. I am hoping now that we have kids, my parents will be more willing to go there for a visit.

I, too, cannot get a high score on Buzz Lightyear to save my life. Yet everytime I ride Toy Story, I am able to beat my husband's score. I'm not sure what it is, but I like it .

Thanks again for another great trip report. I am sorry that The Ventures will not be there for Flower and Garden, but hopefully you and Helena will be able to squeeze in another trip next year before December.

[arnoldvb]

Thanks for the comments, Jennifer. A whole group of Ventures fans are very disappointed that the band will not be at Epcot in 2010. Disney will be losing some resort and park guests because of that. I don't know yet if the non-appearance is because of a Disney or Ventures decision. Regardless, God willing, we'll visit WDW again sometime by next December; but right now the timing is completely up in the air. Anyway, "see" you over on Facebook.

[scoobydooby]

Thanks for another enjoyable trip report. Our family are visitng next December so it was especially fun to have a December report to read. My DD was only just 5 on her first trip and she definately liked the 'thrill' rides better than the dark rides too. I think at that age their imaginations are vivid but their guts are strong!!

[arnoldvb]

Thanks for the comments, "Scooby." Selene told me today that they're considering a return visit during the Spring to get another use from their APs. When asked, Jaidyn said she'd like to go back, but said "no dark rides, especially Dinosaur!"

[relaaxedwheniamthere]

hey buddy ! this was finally going to be the year that i saw the VENTURES. what does disney do no ventures . just weekend concerts. family in the end is what it is all about .how about those brett led viking ? was there 12/12-12/18 crowds were picking up. enjoyed the report sounded like you guys commando style it this trip because of your grandaughter.

my best, dusty

[arnoldvb]

Hi Dusty, glad you enjoyed the report. Too bad you won't get a chance to catch The Ventures. I'm hoping there'll be a last minute change and they'll appear after all. But then that would mean last minute trip planning, which I don't like.

We were somewhat in commando mode this trip. The previous trips with Jaidyn, they'd go back to the hotel with her for an afternoon nap and Helena and I would stay in the park for some of the "adult" attractions. This year Jaidyn is past the afternoon naps and was up for many of those "adult" rides. Except for the meltdown in Mexico the one afternoon, she held up very well.

We did notice that the crowds were definitely larger on our last day at the Magic Kingdom. There were many people with school or team jerseys and t-shirts, leading me to assume they were from the Pop Warner groups.

The Vikings have been great this season, but I hope their recent losing streak doesn't extend into the playoffs. I couldn't believe their loss on Monday to Chicago.

[momof three]

Great report! I’m so glad you got to see WDW through Jaidyn’s eyes. Four is such a magical age to experience WDW.

What a bummer about the stinking VPK program being so darn strict about missing more then two days a month. My daughter is in Kindergarten this year. Last year she was also in a state run VPK program. We had to obtain special permission for her to miss a week in May when we did a Disney Cruise but they did approve it. I also have a 4th and 6th grader. I am so glad we did this trip last year because I know all the rules have changed (again) this year. I doubt we would have been able to get permission to go this school year. Florida’s public school system is so ridiculous about allowing children to miss school for family vacations. I firmly believe this should be a parental decision but unfortunately that’s not the case.

Thanks for sharing. I hope Helena's back is doing better.

Mily

[arnoldvb]

Mily, thanks for your comments. At least we still were able to have a great time despite the VPK restrictions.

[srusso100]

Arnold,
I enjoyed the report (as always). I'm sorry you didn't get to try the Boardwalk. Keep trying - I think you'd like it.

We did stay at SSR back in May and I liked everything about the resort except for the bus service which was horrible. It sounds like things have improved since then.

[EJ4Disney]

Arnold,
Thanks for another great trip roport. Wow, what a Christmas gift. I hope you and Selene are feeling better and the backs are ok. Isn't it just wonderful to see WDW through the eyes of a 4 year old grandbaby?

Thanks again,
Ellen

PS. I love the avaitar of you and Selene.

[arnoldvb]

Steve and Ellen, glad you liked the report.

Steve, I can't complain at all about the bus service on this trip. We never waited more than 15 minutes, even when we just missed a bus that was leaving. We might try getting in to AKV for our next trip towards the end of the year.

Ellen, actually "Selene" is our daughter. That's my wife "Helena" in the avatar pic. Selene is already planning a short April visit with John and little Jaidyn to get a second use out of the APs. We won't be joining them then, but are hopeful for maybe a visit in the Fall for Helena and I. We've never experienced the Food and Wine Festival or the Fall decorations.

[relaaxedwheniamthere]

arnold ! dadgummit forgot to mention about buzz lightyear . my dumplin found a new 100,000 target by accident just as the spaceship stopped . well needless to say i ended up with 800,840 points . will never happen again i'm sure. hope both your backs are better as mine is now out good old "arthy" has paid me a visit in this 30 degree weather. florida set to maybe have some record lows the next couple of days.

[arnoldvb]

Dusty, I only dream of scores like that on Buzz Lightyear. Thanks for the well wishes regarding Helena's back. She is almost pain free, but has been getting some body jerks/tremors that may or may not be related. It will be back to the neurologist next week. Hope your arthritis calms down when it warms up.

[Toocherie]

Originally Posted by arnoldvb

Cheryl,


Enjoy your own upcoming visit.

LOL--actually my upcoming visit is to Disneyland--a group of friends (about 40) and I go and have fun. Lots of dinners and meets. Our Buzz Lightyear is much easier IMO than WDW's so I generally get scores in the 100,000s--but one of my friends generally is 400,000+ (we are all extremely jealous)

I'll have to check out your Facebook more.

Cheryl

[EJ4Disney]

Originally Posted by arnoldvb

Steve and Ellen, glad you liked the report.

Steve, I can't complain at all about the bus service on this trip. We never waited more than 15 minutes, even when we just missed a bus that was leaving. We might try getting in to AKV for our next trip towards the end of the year.

Ellen, actually "Selene" is our daughter. That's my wife "Helena" in the avatar pic. Selene is already planning a short April visit with John and little Jaidyn to get a second use out of the APs. We won't be joining them then, but are hopeful for maybe a visit in the Fall for Helena and I. We've never experienced the Food and Wine Festival or the Fall decorations.

I KNEW that. So sorry for this old brain. Just doesn't work like it used to.

[arnoldvb]

As promised, for those of you who might not have been keen to checking out my trip photos on Facebook, they're now available on my personal web site beginning here:

http://www.sandcastlevi.com/travel/d...9dec-wdw01.htm

Even if you looked at the pics on Facebook, you might want to take a look at these because there are about 60 more that I didn't put on Facebook.

Enjoy.

[tdelaney_98]

Arnold,

Another great trip report! Isn't it great that J. is old enough to really enjoy the mouse? Looks (from the pics as well as the narrative) that you had a wonderful trip.

Terrific news on the doctors too!

Sorry about the "me mentality" stupid people you encountered. Cutting has always been a pet peeve for me. The value resorts are the only ones with a proper queue, and that has been a problem for us on busy times with the busses at the mods and deluxes. Whoever shows up last seems to get on first. I try to take a "it's vacation--don't sweat it" attitude, but sometimes it gets the better of me!

You guys look healthy and happy! What a wonderful blessing in 2010! Happy new year--looking forward to your next trip in December (seems way too far away--)

[arnoldvb]

Hi,

Glad you enjoyed the report and the pictures. Jaidyn's enjoyment of the rides was a real plus, and I'm glad she's as big a "mouse" lover and I am. :-)

I'm sorry I lost it with that couple who jumped in front of us at the MVMCP check-in line. The expletive I used was a relatively mild one, but I still normally wouldn't say something like that to someone in public. The thing is that the line wasn't all that long at the time, and they wouldn't have lost much time by just getting in at the end. Some people just have no common courtesy!

Hopefully we can swing a trip during the late fall for the Food and Wine Festival, or at least early enough to see the Halloween decorations. If not, December will be the next trip. Selene and family are trying to swing an early May visit (after Jaidyn's pre-K is out for summer) to make use of their APs. They have a reservation made at All Star Movies already, but the trip's still up in the air pending John's vacation schedule. I told Selene that she should write a trip report if they do make it, and she appears to be considering it. Keep your fingers crossed.

PS: Oh, and Tina ... "GO VIKINGS!"

[relaaxedwheniamthere]

arnold loved the photos . you are a blessed man . question do you miss the christmas over lay @country bears as much as i do

[arnoldvb]

I definitely miss the Christmas version of the Country Bears! And the Lights of Winter at Epcot. Except for the Christmas Tree, you could hardly tell it was Christmas time in Future World.

[tdelaney_98]

Originally Posted by arnoldvb

PS: Oh, and Tina ... "GO VIKINGS!"

YOU KNOW IT!!! I forgot you were a Vikings fan! (Dallas looked good yesterday, though.....)

[wickey's friend]

Once again, and outstanding trip report!!! Thanks so much for sharing. Jaidyn is adorable!

I hope Helen's back is better.