Ice's Long Strange Trip Report
I'm gonna try and get this party started... But before I do I'd like to share this from INFO CENTRAL as it was a factor in choosing this time of year for this family trip;
Quote:
BEST TIME TO VISIT
September
*Please note: These are general guidelines. Disney often offers vacation discounts and specials throughout the year. These can increase the crowds.
Yeah, incentives have DEFINITELY changed the flow of traffic during September... so much so that our resort was overbooked during the last few days of us trying to extend... but I'm getting ahead of myself - I should start at the start and maybe end at the end instead!
CAST OF CHARACTERS:
Me (Ice, now known by the family as "That Guy")
The Wife (Christy)
Mom & Dad Wyatt
Christy's brother Ty, his wife Vivian and their 7 year old daughter Faith.
Thursday was departure day, and it almost didn't happen thanks to Gustav. The airport here had been shut down since Monday, and our flight was the first flight going out after everything reopened. Luckily we faced no drama on that front, and made it to Houston and then on to Orlanda where we caught DME and were on our merry way to the All-Star Movies. We all got checked in, dropped off our carry-on's, met in the food court and headed off to Downtown Disney where we ate at the Rainforest Cafe. Afterwards we walked it off for a bit and headed back to the bus and to the ASMovies for some shut-eye. I will add here that we had upgraded our room in order to get the Free Dining Plan being offered (which plays into the increased crowds) and specifically asked for a King-size bed. Now I know requests are met as best as they can, but our Preferred Room had two tiny beds in it (although it was right by the front of the resort)... for those of you who have met me, you know I am a large fella, and that tiny little bed had my feet dangling over the end unless I curled up some, and that then left less room for Christy. I figured that as crowded as they were, why bother complaining about wanting to be moved and possibly not getting what I want, so we just settled in and went to sleep.
The next day we all met for a quick breakfast. As we were checking out, we were informed that we also could have 4 drinks (and the large ones at that!) So we asked the family if they wanted OJ or apple juice or chocolate milk, and for the next few days they at least got free drinks with their breakfasts.
We hit the bus-stop for our connection to the Magic Kingdom. On our arrival we dropped stuff off at the locker and took a few pictures (Photopass and with our own cameras) and as we rounded Main Street, Faith's eyes went wide; "Look at that! It's Cinderella's Castle! It's so much bigger than in the stories!" From there we went straight for Christy's favorite ride... BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!! Why? Because she handily beats me everytime we ride it!!!
From there we made the circuit of Tomorrowland, including our 1st visit to the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor; for those of you who've experienced it, you probably know all about "That Guy?" Well, guess who the monster's singled out to be That Guy during our visit? Needless to say, I tried to ham it up each time the camera was on me once I realized what was happening! And of course, I happily have my little sticker the CM gave me declaring me THAT GUY!
From there we hit as many attractions in as many lands as we could. Lines were what I would consider moderate... I've seen them about the same or less during the Christmas season, so I was a bit surprised at some of the lines, but we just skipped onto whatever had short lines. BTW - I've heard tales of the heat and humidity during the Summer being absolutely horrible... well, it ain't much better in September! It literally drained us!
After many fantastic (yet sweaty) experiences (including hearing my bro-in-law scream and giggle like a little girl on BTM and watch the family dance through the Pirate queue) it was time for our reserved dining at the castle. I had printed "Official Reservations" which they recieved at Christmas announcing they were being treated to dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table. Quickly while I went ahead to check in, Viv took Faith to a store and got her decked out as Princess Ariel just in time for our name to be called. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and the novelty of eating INSIDE the Castle!!!
Once we were done we headed over to EPCOT and hit a few rides before finding a spot for Illuminations. Now, neither Viv or Faith have ever been to WDW before, and Ty hadn't been since he was 9, so they were all rather wide-eyed like country mice at some of the things they had seen so far, but Illuminations (even without the globe) literally blew them away. Ty's comment was "I never thought I'd see such a firework show synched up so perfectly to music!" By this time, we had been park hopping from 9 am to after 9 pm, and everyone (even those of us who normally just can't get enough) were worn out, so it was back to the hotel and some much needed sleep.
I'm still working on pictures right now, so I'll post the link at the end of each section of my report (just in case.) Here's what's up so far:
http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z...WDWFAMILY2008/
More soon...