Dsnygirl
01-28-2009, 11:49 AM
I think I am going to try to do this trip report a little differently, and combine a few days together... so I apologize if it is a little long, but I'll probably get it done faster!!
The cast for this trip:
Me -- 41 year old who can't get enough of being at Disney... and this trip didn't help!!
Kate -- 41 year old co-worker & friend who also loves all things Disney, is a fanatic about the villains and Rhino & a wealth of Disney knowledge!
Jenn -- another co-worker & friend who loves to be at Disney more than anything and has probably been there more than any of the rest of us...
Shauna -- last but not least, another co-worker and friend who shares our love of Disney, and who also got to head out on a cruise w/ her family after our trip! Lucky girl!!
This was a trip we'd talked about trying to do for the last couple of years, so it was really cool to finally pull it off. As many of you who read my pre-trip report know, my DH was happy for me to be going, but also pining away at the fact that he wasn't going... but we had fun texting and sending pictures back and forth, so he got to share in quite a bit of the trip anyway!
Day One, Thursday January 22
Today I flew out @ 4:15pm, on my own... wasn't too wild about flying by myself, but Kate had gone down yesterday and Jenn & Shauna had flown out this morning, so I was the last to go. The flight was uneventful and I arrived early, at 6:50pm, and was off on the ME bus to my resort almost immediately!! I got checked in quickly, left my bag at the concierge desk and was on a bus to meet up w/ everyone at DTD by 8 pm! I thought that was great!
I headed straight for WoD to do some shopping, wanted to make use of my AP discount and of course, had a list from my girls (and my DH) of things they hoped for! I was also a personal shopper for a few friends, so I had some fun finding things for everyone, and of course, a few "trinkets" for me. :blush: I met up with the girls there, and after we all finished shopping, Jenn & Shauna headed for dinner at PH while Kate & I went to EoS... I had an AWESOME sandwich and a Corona, and then while everyone else headed back to the resort, I ran to Ghirardelli's for some cocoa and a brownie. Yumm!!
From there, I headed back to my to my resort... met someone on the bus from Rochester, so it was fun chatting w/ her, and I enjoyed the quiet walk back to my room. We were staying at ASMu, as our AP rate was ridiculously low, and had never been there before.... pretty neat! The room was nice, and it was so weird to unpack for only me... didn't take me very long, and was so easy!! I checked in at home and then headed off to bed, assuming I'd fall right off to sleep... unfortunately, I was wrong, and I ended up wide awake until after 3am!! I've never arrived in the evening before, and I think I was just too geared up to settle and sleep. So, at 3:15, I left Kate a voicemail, as we were supposed to be up and at rope drop at MK the next morning. I knew I wasn't going to be much good for the day on 4hrs sleep, so I re-set my wakeup call to talk to my family before school, set my phone to wake me up later at 9:30, and finally fell off to sleep!! Yawn!!
Day Two, Friday January 23
Well, my best intentions to fall back asleep after talking to my family in the morning didn't work, so I just got up and got ready for my day... after all, I'm a night-shift nurse, and I've spent far worse days on 5hrs sleep than being at Disney!! :)
So, I was up and out of my room by 9:15, and on my way to MK with the BIGGEST smile on my face! Of course, I stopped first at the food court for some coffee... that was a MUST!! (Thank goodness the bus drivers let you carry your morning drinks on the buses!!)
It was the most glorious day... sunny, bright blue skies... a bit chilly, but I layered and it still felt great out. And it was totally weird to be going down Main Street on my own... I ran up to the train station platform to take some pictures, and it felt so odd to not have anyone with me! But it was pretty cool, too... a totally different feel. I stopped at the bakery for my favorite breakfast - Apple Charlotte - and then headed to Tomorrowland to meet Kate at Space Mtn. I had to eat quick -- they give you a lot, and it's not a long enough walk to get it all down! So, I had barely finished it when we got in line, and it hadn't moved very far down into my system by the time we were getting into our car -- so Kate "took one for the team" and rode in the last seat, she said I just didn't want to be back there if I'd just eaten. ;) Smart girl, that Kate!!
After Space, we headed for Buzz, and then back to FP Space again... Kate had gotten us FP's when she first arrived. (Did I mention she was smart?) It was a good thing we rode it twice, b/c Space spent most of the time we were at MK later down.. I think we only rode it one more time during our trip.
We left Tomorrowland after Space and headed for Frontierland and BTMRR... we were surprised by quite a long line, but rode it anyway.... then we had to hit PoC before we headed to Epcot to meet Jenn & Shauna!! Can't miss riding w/ my pirates!! :heart:
We got to Epcot about 12:45 and met Jenn & Shauna in The Land, after they had to leave Soarin' -- it went down right as they were about to get on!! And they didn't even get a FP for later... not too cool. But I digress... We left The Land and headed for FP's for TT, riding it quickly in the single rider line, too. I loved the ride much more than I had in December... I had screamed my way through the turns, having never ridden it before... this time, I knew what to expect and thought it was GREAT!
After TT, we headed to World Showcase... our intention was to "drink around the world", but really only ended up getting maybe three drinks each. But, that was sufficient -- I was able to try three drinks I'd always wanted to try, and that was pretty cool! Jenn was our resident "charactar location expert", so we got our pictures taken w/ Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger (who I love...) in England, Aurora in France, Belle & the Beast near France and the Genie in Morocco... I saw more characters there than I ever have w/ my family!! Figures, eh?? Kate & I ate lunch at Boulangerie -- I had the ham & cheese tartine (which I am now craving...) and chocolate mouse -- YUMM!! Had always wanted to eat there, so I checked off another "first"... then we got our first drinks. Mine was the Grand Marnier slushie... another first I'd always wanted to try, and delicious -- I highly recommend one!! Later on, the next drink was the Sultan's Slushie in Morocco... holy moly, that bartender can pour and it was SO good!! ;) The last drink was a glass of Rosa Regale, well-recommended by our resident food expert here on I'cot (natazu)... and I couldn't agree more -- it was wonderful!!
After our drinks and pictures, we headed to Norway to ride the Maelstrom, and then it was back to Future World to head for the Coral Reef for dinner. We met up with a friend of Jenn's there who lives in Tampa, and she joined us for dinner... we had a GREAT time, wonderful food, as usual, and had a wonderful table right down by the aquarium. I've only been there once before and our table was way up away from the aquarium, so it was nice to be so close! My only complaint? My fav dessert there is the Jack Daniels and Baileys mousse, and I couldn't wait to get it... but when the waiter brought it, it was HALF full!! I questioned him on it, as I'd just had it in December, and he agreed with me!! He explained they had a new chef, and were trying to cut costs... too bad I didn't think fast enough, I just accepted his answer... I should've made him have them fill it, as it's going to be pretty rare for them to be called on something like that by a guest that had just eaten it a few weeks prior!! Oh well... live & learn, I probably won't order it again for the cost, unless they tell me it's filled up again. :(
After our dinner, we rode Nemo, did a little shopping and went to FP TT... and almost missed Illuminations b/c the ride had to be stopped right before we got off. (A car wouldn't move, so they had to get it off the track.) Once we got off, I made a beeline for World Showcase... I love Illum. & didn't want to miss it, and Shauna had never seen it. I enjoy watching it from near the Rose & Crown, but we couldn't get there before it started, so actually we watched from having just crossed the bridge into the World Showcase, and it was really a cool place to see it from! More "centered" there, and the globe comes so close to you!! Pretty cool!
After Illuminations, we headed to ride Soarin' and Living w/ the Land... I've never done that ride, but we did it on Kate's recommendation and she was right -- I loved it! I can't wait to take the girls on it -- they'll think the greenhouses are SO cool.
At this point, the girls were getting tired -- I should've been, but I wasn't... gotta love that Disney adrenaline!! So, I checked in at home to see if there were any last requests from MouseGear, and then Kate & I headed to the buses. At this point, I experienced another first -- a taxi ride! Kate's feet were done in and she wasn't going to walk all the way to the All Star bus stops... gotta love where they put them... NOT!! So, she treated to a taxi ride (which I still owe her for... :blush:) and we went back to our resort quickly, and in style. :thumbsup:
I did a bit of shopping at the resort gift shop, grabbed a Corona to try and help me relax a bit and sleep, and headed back to my room... I still for some reason had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but hey, it's Disney... I'd rather lose sleep there than just about anywhere else!!
The cast for this trip:
Me -- 41 year old who can't get enough of being at Disney... and this trip didn't help!!
Kate -- 41 year old co-worker & friend who also loves all things Disney, is a fanatic about the villains and Rhino & a wealth of Disney knowledge!
Jenn -- another co-worker & friend who loves to be at Disney more than anything and has probably been there more than any of the rest of us...
Shauna -- last but not least, another co-worker and friend who shares our love of Disney, and who also got to head out on a cruise w/ her family after our trip! Lucky girl!!
This was a trip we'd talked about trying to do for the last couple of years, so it was really cool to finally pull it off. As many of you who read my pre-trip report know, my DH was happy for me to be going, but also pining away at the fact that he wasn't going... but we had fun texting and sending pictures back and forth, so he got to share in quite a bit of the trip anyway!
Day One, Thursday January 22
Today I flew out @ 4:15pm, on my own... wasn't too wild about flying by myself, but Kate had gone down yesterday and Jenn & Shauna had flown out this morning, so I was the last to go. The flight was uneventful and I arrived early, at 6:50pm, and was off on the ME bus to my resort almost immediately!! I got checked in quickly, left my bag at the concierge desk and was on a bus to meet up w/ everyone at DTD by 8 pm! I thought that was great!
I headed straight for WoD to do some shopping, wanted to make use of my AP discount and of course, had a list from my girls (and my DH) of things they hoped for! I was also a personal shopper for a few friends, so I had some fun finding things for everyone, and of course, a few "trinkets" for me. :blush: I met up with the girls there, and after we all finished shopping, Jenn & Shauna headed for dinner at PH while Kate & I went to EoS... I had an AWESOME sandwich and a Corona, and then while everyone else headed back to the resort, I ran to Ghirardelli's for some cocoa and a brownie. Yumm!!
From there, I headed back to my to my resort... met someone on the bus from Rochester, so it was fun chatting w/ her, and I enjoyed the quiet walk back to my room. We were staying at ASMu, as our AP rate was ridiculously low, and had never been there before.... pretty neat! The room was nice, and it was so weird to unpack for only me... didn't take me very long, and was so easy!! I checked in at home and then headed off to bed, assuming I'd fall right off to sleep... unfortunately, I was wrong, and I ended up wide awake until after 3am!! I've never arrived in the evening before, and I think I was just too geared up to settle and sleep. So, at 3:15, I left Kate a voicemail, as we were supposed to be up and at rope drop at MK the next morning. I knew I wasn't going to be much good for the day on 4hrs sleep, so I re-set my wakeup call to talk to my family before school, set my phone to wake me up later at 9:30, and finally fell off to sleep!! Yawn!!
Day Two, Friday January 23
Well, my best intentions to fall back asleep after talking to my family in the morning didn't work, so I just got up and got ready for my day... after all, I'm a night-shift nurse, and I've spent far worse days on 5hrs sleep than being at Disney!! :)
So, I was up and out of my room by 9:15, and on my way to MK with the BIGGEST smile on my face! Of course, I stopped first at the food court for some coffee... that was a MUST!! (Thank goodness the bus drivers let you carry your morning drinks on the buses!!)
It was the most glorious day... sunny, bright blue skies... a bit chilly, but I layered and it still felt great out. And it was totally weird to be going down Main Street on my own... I ran up to the train station platform to take some pictures, and it felt so odd to not have anyone with me! But it was pretty cool, too... a totally different feel. I stopped at the bakery for my favorite breakfast - Apple Charlotte - and then headed to Tomorrowland to meet Kate at Space Mtn. I had to eat quick -- they give you a lot, and it's not a long enough walk to get it all down! So, I had barely finished it when we got in line, and it hadn't moved very far down into my system by the time we were getting into our car -- so Kate "took one for the team" and rode in the last seat, she said I just didn't want to be back there if I'd just eaten. ;) Smart girl, that Kate!!
After Space, we headed for Buzz, and then back to FP Space again... Kate had gotten us FP's when she first arrived. (Did I mention she was smart?) It was a good thing we rode it twice, b/c Space spent most of the time we were at MK later down.. I think we only rode it one more time during our trip.
We left Tomorrowland after Space and headed for Frontierland and BTMRR... we were surprised by quite a long line, but rode it anyway.... then we had to hit PoC before we headed to Epcot to meet Jenn & Shauna!! Can't miss riding w/ my pirates!! :heart:
We got to Epcot about 12:45 and met Jenn & Shauna in The Land, after they had to leave Soarin' -- it went down right as they were about to get on!! And they didn't even get a FP for later... not too cool. But I digress... We left The Land and headed for FP's for TT, riding it quickly in the single rider line, too. I loved the ride much more than I had in December... I had screamed my way through the turns, having never ridden it before... this time, I knew what to expect and thought it was GREAT!
After TT, we headed to World Showcase... our intention was to "drink around the world", but really only ended up getting maybe three drinks each. But, that was sufficient -- I was able to try three drinks I'd always wanted to try, and that was pretty cool! Jenn was our resident "charactar location expert", so we got our pictures taken w/ Pooh, Eeyore & Tigger (who I love...) in England, Aurora in France, Belle & the Beast near France and the Genie in Morocco... I saw more characters there than I ever have w/ my family!! Figures, eh?? Kate & I ate lunch at Boulangerie -- I had the ham & cheese tartine (which I am now craving...) and chocolate mouse -- YUMM!! Had always wanted to eat there, so I checked off another "first"... then we got our first drinks. Mine was the Grand Marnier slushie... another first I'd always wanted to try, and delicious -- I highly recommend one!! Later on, the next drink was the Sultan's Slushie in Morocco... holy moly, that bartender can pour and it was SO good!! ;) The last drink was a glass of Rosa Regale, well-recommended by our resident food expert here on I'cot (natazu)... and I couldn't agree more -- it was wonderful!!
After our drinks and pictures, we headed to Norway to ride the Maelstrom, and then it was back to Future World to head for the Coral Reef for dinner. We met up with a friend of Jenn's there who lives in Tampa, and she joined us for dinner... we had a GREAT time, wonderful food, as usual, and had a wonderful table right down by the aquarium. I've only been there once before and our table was way up away from the aquarium, so it was nice to be so close! My only complaint? My fav dessert there is the Jack Daniels and Baileys mousse, and I couldn't wait to get it... but when the waiter brought it, it was HALF full!! I questioned him on it, as I'd just had it in December, and he agreed with me!! He explained they had a new chef, and were trying to cut costs... too bad I didn't think fast enough, I just accepted his answer... I should've made him have them fill it, as it's going to be pretty rare for them to be called on something like that by a guest that had just eaten it a few weeks prior!! Oh well... live & learn, I probably won't order it again for the cost, unless they tell me it's filled up again. :(
After our dinner, we rode Nemo, did a little shopping and went to FP TT... and almost missed Illuminations b/c the ride had to be stopped right before we got off. (A car wouldn't move, so they had to get it off the track.) Once we got off, I made a beeline for World Showcase... I love Illum. & didn't want to miss it, and Shauna had never seen it. I enjoy watching it from near the Rose & Crown, but we couldn't get there before it started, so actually we watched from having just crossed the bridge into the World Showcase, and it was really a cool place to see it from! More "centered" there, and the globe comes so close to you!! Pretty cool!
After Illuminations, we headed to ride Soarin' and Living w/ the Land... I've never done that ride, but we did it on Kate's recommendation and she was right -- I loved it! I can't wait to take the girls on it -- they'll think the greenhouses are SO cool.
At this point, the girls were getting tired -- I should've been, but I wasn't... gotta love that Disney adrenaline!! So, I checked in at home to see if there were any last requests from MouseGear, and then Kate & I headed to the buses. At this point, I experienced another first -- a taxi ride! Kate's feet were done in and she wasn't going to walk all the way to the All Star bus stops... gotta love where they put them... NOT!! So, she treated to a taxi ride (which I still owe her for... :blush:) and we went back to our resort quickly, and in style. :thumbsup:
I did a bit of shopping at the resort gift shop, grabbed a Corona to try and help me relax a bit and sleep, and headed back to my room... I still for some reason had a bit of trouble falling asleep, but hey, it's Disney... I'd rather lose sleep there than just about anywhere else!!