BrerSchultzy's "This Should Not Have Been the Best Trip Ever" Trip Report - Day One

[BrerSchultzy]

CAST:
Me - 36, hovering just about an inch over the driver's seat the entire way down
DW - Ageless - Spends most of the trip down chugging Dayquil and staring in disbelief at our confirmation
DS - 4.5...still has no idea where we're headed
DD - 9 months - also has no idea where we're headed.

So, we hit the road at 3:30 AM. We are an hour and a half behind my original schedule, but DW (as always) was right...I needed at least a little sleep before the 9 hour drive. Within 20 minutes of leaving, DS needs to find a potty. We happily oblige, since I've already finished my coffee.

After a very non-eventful trip through SC and GA, we arrive at the Florida Welcome Center, where we had planned on telling our son where we were headed....but both kids were still asleep. So we re-caffeinate, and hit the road.
Just before we get on I-4, DS wakes up, so we plan on stopping at the first gas station we find...which, if you've ever gone from I-95 to I-4, you know that it's a good 20 miles before you get to anything...and the "anything" is a scary little Citgo station that doesn't sell coffee . BUT, we take this time to eat our Lunchables (no time for fast food on this trip), and we tell our son (we caught it on video, in case WDW needs any help with marketing). It was everything we hoped for. If you friend me on FB (I'm the only Steve Schultz in Piedmont, SC), you can see the video. Even though he's running a fever, and has slept for 12 straight hours, he obliges us with the enthusiasm and cuteness we had envisioned. He then spends the remainder of the trip into WDW telling his little sister all about Buzz Lightyear and It's a Small World.

Upon arriving, we check-in to Pop Century (actually, we pick up our check-in packet, having checked in online a couple days earlier), and find that we are in Building 4 of the 60s section, on the fourth floor (a special request, since we hate having people above us), on the opposite side from the pool. The front desk staff was incredibly polite and cheerful, and the luggage guys were fantastic.

Since DS wasn't feeling so great, we hung out in the room for a little while, thinking we might hit MK that night if he was up to it. I went down and got our mugs and explored the Food Court and gift shop. This whole set up reminded me of the way the Contemporary USED TO feel...a great place for families to gather at the end or beginning of the day....lots of energy and color, but without the smell of ketchup that usually plagues food courts.

Anyway, a quick sip of Nescafe, and I knew I was home! Make fun of the coffee all you want, but WDW is the only place I'd drink this stuff, so it's actually taken a bit of a nostalgic place in my heart. I might be sad if they got rid of it....maybe.

By the time I get to the room, DS is bouncing around, ready to head to MK. He wants to ride Buzz (a theme for the trip). His fever has gone down, and this trip is really about him anyway, so we pack up the diaper bag, get the little princess in her stroller, and off we go!

We decided to drive to MK, so we could ride the Monorail in to the park. I love driving in WDW. And this was our first taste of exactly how empty the parks were going to be for this week (until Saturday, of course). We arrived at MK at about 3 PM. Walked right through security, through the turnstiles....and headed to get a stroller, since DS was already tired. No problem...this trip is his reward for being sweet through all the craziness his parents put him through this summer. Stroller rental was a breeze, and the CMs working the strollers are so great with kids! Sam spent quite a little while explaining to one of the CMs that he was from South Carolina and his mommy and daddy drove him to Disney World and....well, you get the picture.

Then we start to walk away, and there's the castle. We stop dead in our tracks. There it is. After all these months of talking about it, we were finally there. DW and I look at each other and just start laughing. 6 months of tension disappeared in that split second of seeing the castle. We also got a good look at the Halloween decorations and they looked great. They do such a great job of keeping Main Street feeling like a romanticized small town...you can completely imagine a local town decorating guild having just completed the work on their Main St.

So anyway, we ask Sam what he wants to do first. Surprisingly, after a year of talking about nothing but POTC and Buzz Lightyear, he wants It's a Small World first. So we take the Happiest Cruise that Ever Sailed. Twice. No line either time. DD absolutely loved it. She cooed and flapped her arms the entire time. And DS remembered from last year that you are supposed to wave to the person in the tower, which he did diligently, even though he was starting to feel bad again.

It is now time to use our Free Dining! And despite an entire year of me talking about nothing but Columbia Harbour House, we decide to head to Pecos Bills instead. I had no idea HOW MUCH food you got with a QS credit. DW and I both get burgers...and fries...and dessert (DW went with the carrot cake, I had the chocolate cake)! DS gets a Hamburger with carrots and grapes, and a cookie that I don't think he was supposed to get. Loaded up with cheese sauce and all the fixins, we dig in. Valiantly, we finish off our entrees and sides....but the desserts have to be saved for later. We've spent the entire summer grabbing whatever food we could when we could, and were wholly unprepared for the feast that was to come. DS, however, had no problem polishing off his food. As a side note, the carrot cake was way too sweet, and the burgers were a little more "pressed" than I remember them. And what's up with the people at the door with that puppet? It seriously looked like they were hazing the new CMs by making them carry that puppet.

Again we ask the young Master where he wants to go, and it's finally time for Buzz. So off we go, to Infinity and Beyond! Thrice. No wait either time. The first time, DW rode with DS, while I rode with DD, who was no match for me on this one! Granted, she's 9 months old, but I think she could have put in more effort. I did discover, on this first ride, the 100,000 point trick in the Zurg room...something I would later use to impress DS (DW, however, seemed completely unimpressed). From then on, DS had to ride everything with mommy, then with daddy. It was a pattern. He's big into patterns. He's 4.

We finally convince him that the Peoplemover is next on our list. Twice. Again, no wait at all...which isn't that surprising I suppose. Anyway, we take our pictures on the Peoplemover, and then we pose the unanswerable question: "what percentage of WDW vacation photos are taken on the Peoplemover?" I know for us it's at least 10%.

So, after Peoplemover, we hit up Buzz 2 more times (it's a pattern, after all), then on to Dumbo in the new Storybook Circus!

If you haven't been here yet...wow. Just wow. It is so beautiful over there. And the new lights on Dumbo, over the water...it's beautiful. I was very pleasantly surprised at the number of trees in this new part of the park. It feels like it's been there forever.

After two rides on Dumbo (of course), I convince DS to ride the Barnstormer. Once. And not again for this trip. DS decides he doesn't like roller-coasters this trip. He said it was great, but he'll never ride it ever again.

Thanks to my incredible sister and my wonderful parents, we had some gift cards to spend, and after the mild trauma of the Barnstormer, we figured now was as good a time as any. So it's off to the Emporium...

...and let me say, it is really nice to see all the new merchandise in WDW. Last trip I lamented on the lack of original or interesting stuff. They've really stepped it up lately.

That said, we ended up buying two stuffed animals...Scully (from Jake & the Neverland Pirates) for DS, and DD's first Minnie Mouse! Which she gnawed on. A lot. She's teething, after all.

DS wanted to ride Buzz some more, and DW wanted to hit up Space Mountain, so DD, DS and I all rode Buzz (no wait) while DW rode Space Mountain (10 min wait). Yet again, I emerged victorious. By a lot.

DS and DW started to feel really bad then, so we headed back to the car. DS fell asleep on the monorail, so we trekked it all the way to the car with two sleeping kids and a sick DW. We packed them into their car seats, and drove back to POP. This SHOULD have been the last time we used the car until we left.

We gave DS his medicine, DW took Nyquil, and I put DD in her Pack N Play that was provided by the resort (very nice, by the way). I was a little too wired to sleep, so I headed down to the food court to get some more Nescafe, and to wander the gift shop some more. On the way back, I notice the Petals Pool Bar... I had a and a great conversation with a Brit about why we Americans like American Football, even though it takes forever to watch. By the time I got back to the room, everyone was passed out, so I found an empty spot on one of the beds, and drifted off to sleep.

Up Next: Animal Kingdom!

[disneymom15]

Nice first day. Hope your son and wife feel better in the morning.

[Christine]

LOVING this report!
Hope the passes quickly!

[January-2007]

What a magical first day! We also love driving everywhere in WDW, and on our next trio DS will be turning 4, so I can prepare myself now for his reign and patterns. Too cute.

[Lindsey310]

Great trip report

Looking forward to animal kingdom!

Have a magical time

Hope everyone is feeling better

[Disneymom4ever]

Great report so far! Hoping everyone feels better for Animal Kingdom. Can't wait to read more!

[AgentC]

Wow, what a wonderful day you manage to have even with a sick family. Hope everyone got better quick.

[DisneyorBust]

Hope that morning brings a healthy family! Great day! Thanks for sharing.

[faline]

Another wish that everyone felt healthier after a good night's sleep. Depsite folks not feeling well, you had a wonderful beginning to your trip!

[taleasoldastime]

I hope they start feeling better!
this reminds me of how many times i used to ride buzz with my brother. So many great memories!

[yjgirl32]

Great report. Thanks for sharing.

[Dopey's Girl]

Great first day even with DW and DS under the weather. Hope that everyone is feeling better soon!

[SBETigg]

Aw, that magical feeling of all stress melting away on sight of the castle.

[KylesMom]

Even with DW and DS under the weather, you sure had a magical day, Steve! Glad you received the response you were looking for when DS realized where you were going, and that your day was a magical one. Hopefully everyone will be feeling just a little better for tomorrow's adventures!

[Dsnygirl]

What a wonderful start... and what troopers you all are, esp. your DS! He sounds like a sweetheart. You guys did a LOT on your first day, esp. while feeling under the weather... nice to hear your impression of the new Fantasyland area, very much looking forward to seeing it! Glad you all had such a fun day, hoping everyone wakes up tomorrow feeling better!!

[beksy]

Great trip report! I was laughing out loud when I read that about you playing Buzz with your DD Great memories...I want to be part of your family!

[amorillo]

sounds like a great first day! hope everyone starts feeling better.... thanks for sharing!

[Tigerinvestigator]

Great Day. Your report brought back alot of memories for me. I remember when my now DD15 was a baby and teething. We went to the Rainforest cafe not long after it opened at DTD and she "stole" a rubber frog from one of the bins in the Rainforest store. She was gnawing on it before we realized it so of course we had to buy it. Everyone says don't take kids that age because they won't remember it, to which I reply "No but I will".

[wdwfansince75]

Some NEPA and Schultz family history....
In the late 1800's, Mauch Chunk PA, as it was known before becoming Jim Thorpe, PA, was one of the weathiest (per capita) towns on the east coast...so weathy that the town supported bringing electicity to the town. Edison sent teams to the area, to run wires from Easton, PA up the Lehigh River, through Bethlehem and Allentown, through the Lehigh Gap, past Palmerton and Lehighton, and on to Mauch Chunk. Some of the workers discovered the existance of the Switchback Railroad, built in the 1830's as a gravity railed road, to haul coal from the mines down to the Lehigh Canal..and later, to the convential railroads that served the area. Using huge pullies at both ends, the fully loaded cars going downhill pulled the empty cars back up the hill. Eventually, cables and motors replaced gravity as locomotion, to allow two way transport, for supplies and passangers, as well as the coal. When it was no longer used for coal, the Switchback became a tourist ride, with a scenic ride from "The Switzerland of America." Sam's great great grandfather, as one of the linemen for Edison, so enjoyed the ride, that he resolved to bring his children from their home in Brooklyn on their first, and perhaps, only, vacation, so all of them, including his 14th, and youngest, child, Sam's great grandfather, to ride the Switchback. Years later, Sam's great grandfather moved his family, including Sam's great great grandpa and Sam's grandpa, from NYC to NEPA (Saylorsburg, PA). And, naturally, the family was taken to the Switchback RR...only to discover it had stopped running in the 30's..
Not as thrilling as a roller coaster, the switchback RR was still a thrill ride of its time...and 5 generations of Schultzes have been addicted to thrill rides ever since.
In fact, the earliest picture of Sam's grandfather is a 2 1/2, who looks amazingly like Sam, on a mechanical horse at Coney Island's Steeplechase Park. He also claimed to have been on the first run of the Cyclone at Coney Island as a 14 year old, with his older brother.

[MississippiDisneyFreak]

Great start, hope everyone's well soon