left with 2 good ones came back with one-trip report-forgot something 5/8 About This Page:

[disneyknut]

Yes the title is a BIG teaser.. the story will unfold during the trip report to read on to see what it means...

Feel free to take some guesses if you're so inclined too..

Pre stuff... This is the Pre trip report if anyone wants to check out our preparations..


Characters:
Me, Ann.. planner of the trips & scaredy cat of heights.. as I get older I seem more afraid.
Dh, Jim. lover of all Disney .. could be in the parks all day every day in 100 degree heat & still want to keep going
DD, Shelby.. 12 going on 21.. she made this trip fun & exasperating at the same time

& co-starring:

DS #1 Jamie, the band geek who was especially excited about the musical clinic Disney invited them to

DS#2, Brendan, the navigator.. his GF & friends didn't know Disney so he had the pleasure of being a tour guide

MIL, Linda, came for the weekend to see the boys march.. left happy & stuffed from all of our meals.

There will also be guest appearances by friends , from home & here on PP.

Okay.. on with the show...

DAY ONE :

It was really hard to sleep the night before the trip.. I was excited & nervous at the same time. Excited to be going to Disney & knowing this trip was definitely going to happen. Yet nervous at leaving the boys home alone & them getting up & ready to get their own flight to Orlando.

I think I slept less than an hour & when my alarm went off at 3:30am I was already awake. Got my shower & woke Jim & Shelby up Wrote a last minute 'to do' list for the boys then woke them up so that they could get ready for school & to say goodbye to us.

I was also a little nervous as I had booked Super Shuttle for our trip to take us to the airport from home & I was worried if they would arrive on time, etc.

Around 4:30am Jim got a phone call from Super Shuttle that they don't have a driver in the area but were sending a yellow cab which would be there in 10 minutes. About 5 minutes later he got another call stating that the driver was at our house & if we wanted to cancel the service to press button #1 or stay on the line. We looked outside & no cab.. Jim told the person on the phone the driver wasn't there & we definitely DID want their service. A few minutes later they call back to tell us the driver was in our driveway & if we wanted to cancel we should let them know. Again , we look outside.. no driver! I happen to glance up the street & the cab is sitting in my neighbors driveway 4 doors up. We tell Super Shuttle to look for us outside.

Hugs & kisses with the boys with some tears from me.. I'm not good at separating from my kids so I was a bit emotional.

The cab ride was very quick & nice to not deal with the traffic going to the airport.

Got there in no time at all & checked in at Southwest with no issues. I had printed out our boarding passes the day before & knew our seats were A 18-19-& 20 so I was pleased with Early bird check in.

We wanted to grab breakfast but couldn't decide where to eat.. Our choices were also sort of limited in the section of the airport we were in.. Mc Donalds, Sbarro, Beefsteak Charlies for quick service or TGIF for sit down,. I had McDonalds coupons so we decided to go there. Shelby & I got the big breakfast while Jim got a couple Mc Muffin sandwiches.

Finally it was around 7:30 am & we figured we should head to our gate. We look over & there is a local high school marching band on our plane.. I text Jamie & Brendan to tell them.

They start boarding & after the 'needing assistance' people get on (5) they start calling regular boarding & we have only 5 people in front of us. We get on the plane & Jim takes the FIRST seat.. UGH.. no tray tables. He liked it so I just went with the flow. Had a lady pilot which Shelby thought was so cool. We also talked a lot with the flight attendants as we had a fairly large chunk of turbulence where they had to be seated & strapped in.

We landed at 10:00am.. earlier than scheduled. Jim ( being a typical 'ask for no directions' man) totally bypassed the signs for DME & I somehow lost my bearings & couldn't find it. We figured out DME was on the B side of the terminal & we were on the A.. we hoofed it over to B & were soon seated on the bus. It was PACKED!! We shared a DME bus with Old Key West but it really wasn't a long trip at all.

Pulled into POFQ & was greeted by a CM giving us beads .. It wasn't the usual guy dressed up as a jester but a CM in regular clothes . Got our beads & then went in to Express check in.. How cool is that?? the CM was AWESOME & I really wish I could remember her name as I'd like to write a letter of recomendation for her. She told us our room wasn't ready & I said that was no problem & then she said "Hang on.. give me a minute.. do you have any special requests?" I told her none except I would love first floor if she had it & she fiddled with her computer a little & said "I've got a room ready.. how about 4139?" I thanked her & told her that was GREAT.. she said that she loves to see people happy as lots of people get angry when she tells them their room number.

Went to check out our room.. what a GREAT location.. we were a short distance from the bus stop & food court. and a beautiful view of the fountain right in front of our room


and the beautiful courtyard



We dropped off our carry ons & then headed over to MK with a plan to eat lunch & then ride any rides with short lines.

Had lunch at CHH.. I had the lighthouse sandwich which I used to love but there was more slaw than hummus on it. Jim got chicken nuggets & Shelby only wanted a dessert so she got Jim's chocolate cake. I had the apple pie.. it was okay..

We then rode HM with very little lines, POTC which has a small line as well but MK was getting VERY crowded & VERY hot & Shelby started whining to go swimming so we headed back to POFQ, our luggage was already in our room so we put on our suits & headed to the pool.. it was super crowded. The lifeguards told us that the pool at POR was closed so everyone was using the FQ pool. At 3:30 they made an announcement that the POR pool had opened yet no one left. Jim & I decided to get a drink from Mardi Grogs pool bar. I had the Orange Dream & Jim had some kind of rum drink with mint . Shelby had a non-alcolhol apple sour drink which she became hooked on.

We had enough swimming & headed back to the room & took a nap . We're not usually drinkers so those drinks did us in a little.

We were trying to find the best way to get to 1900 Park Fare & decided to take the boat to DTD & then the bus to the GF.

Checked in at 7:00 for our 7:20 ADR's & the hostess said they were running late & we wouldn't be seated until closer to 7:30.. that was fine but then a family of 5 checked in right before me with no ADR & she told them the same thing. I wondered how this would play out... We got our buzzers & went into the lobby to listen to the piano player & people watch. I LOVE to people watch at WDW. its a favorite 'to do' for me..

COMING UP: "I'll spit on him..."

[ntvtxn]

I can not wait to hear/read more about your trip!

[chyanne0]

ohh I love it so far!!!

[chezp]

Great start!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Ann!

[lissybri]

Great start! I can't wait for more. The suspense is killing me. Glad you got a great room location.

[mahons99]

I'm already hooked! Can't wait to read more

[B.M.]

Great start!

[elisa1006]

Sounds good so far, can't wait for more!

[mcc0313]

Great start Ann - what a great room location at POFQ, Looking forward to more.

[jimmymac]

Great start. Looking forward to the next installment

[disneyknut]

At the GF, we waited & we waited & we waited.. The people with no ADR's got seated around 8pm while we were still sitting there. We walked up to the podium & asked when we would be seated & we encountered the first (of several) rude CM's this trip.

The lady simply said that the restaurant was full & they could do nothing about it . I was taken aback but did nothing. The man waiting behind me got irate & asked to see a manager & BOOM! he was seated instantly. I guess the manager saw the look on my face & ushered us over to get our pic taken ( it was horrible BTW, I didn't buy it) .

Now 1900 Park Fare is one of my favorites but tonight YUK!!! There was a plain salad (with no croutons available), a pasta salad & a tomato salad

sides were potatoes, rice & corn
soups were cream of mushroom ( very good) & a vegetable type soup

then they had pasta with marinara sauce, pork roast, salmon & peanut noodles,. I k,id you not that was the entrees.. there were 3 bowls of food at each station.


I went from side to side thinking I had to be missing something but no.. the main dishes were a repeat of the other side.

The peanut noodles were very good & I loved the mac & Cheese from the kids section but was kinda disappointed in the rest.

The characters were GREAT!! Shelby had been nervous all afternoon about this meal, worried about taking a pic with a 'hot' guy (the Prince)

First to visit was Cinderella...



then Lady Tremaine.. She told Shelby about her short shorts& how she would be ordered to scrub the floors..



Now my crazy daughter at this point said "Mom! I like her, she's cool" Leave it to Shelby to like the bad girls

Drizella came by .. she was a very quick visit



A few minutes later Anastasia came over & she was awesome.. She was loud, boisterous & really played up the character.. When I told her that Shelby thought the bad girls were cool, I swear she spent 10 minutes talking to us (in character) Shelby loved it.



Jim mentioned he though Anastasia looked a lot like Pauley Perrette.. Abby from NCIS. I don't see the resemblance.. I think it was more her actions & ultra-hyper ness that made her seem like Abby.

They had the Princess dance with Anastasia being a brat the entire time.

Now we only had one more character to go.. the one Shelby had been dreading meeting... the Prince!! She kept looking around nervously.

She went up to get some ice cream & came back with a HUGE almost overflowing bowl.. When I chided her she said the machine wouldn't stop (it was verified by our server.. their machine is wonky)

I also went to get my much anticipated Strawberry Soup & was also disappointed in that.. it was warm.. not cool warm which I could have eaten but warm like heated warm.. YUCK!!! I took a couple of spoonfuls before I couldn't eat any more.. I was afraid of it being too warm.

Shelby continued her nervousness while eating her ice cream.. I saw the prince approaching from behind Shelby & told her he was coming by.. she got the deer in the headlights look & with a mouth full of ice cream said "I'll spit on him" . He was VERY close by.. not sure if he heard or not but he looked at her & asked why she was red.. I told him she was embarassed at meeting him (yes, It's my job to further embarass my children). He asked her where she was from & she said Pittsburgh & he took her hand & bowed & said "I bet alot of guys are fighting for your heart in Pittsburgh" Shelby got redder. He then had her stand & put her arm in his.. I LOVE the photo that ensued..



Our Server was also inattentive.. I told her it was our first time using the dining plan at a TS & she said there was nothing to do.. it was all on the card. She took our card & when she brought back our receipts I realized I was supposed to leave the tip on the FIRST receipt she had given me (with the prices etc) I had planned on putting all of the tips on the RC but when I asked she told me she couldn't run it again. Luckily, Jim had cash on hand so we were able to tip her with that,., it did teach us quickly how to use DDP.

MK was open until midnight so we hopped on the monorail & went back over there.. the park was still crowded but it was a little more bearable than this afternoon.

Walked right on Monsters Inc .. This was the first time Jim had seen it & he was laughing so hard ( he LOVES corny!!) Shelby looked over at me & whispered "This truly is a magical place, look how happy Dad is"

Buzz also had a minimal wait so we hopped in there. Shelby & Jim rode together & I went alone..my score was pitiful.

Shelby loves the Speedway & kept insisting to ride it.. the wait wasn't very long so she & Jim got in line while I went into the stands to watch & get her photo.



Shelby & Jim decided they wanted to ride Space Mountain & while there was a 40 minute wait I told them to go off & the wait times are usually shorter than whats posted.

While they were gone I called Jamie & Brendan to make sure they were home safe & sound.. they had gone to a Mr Casanova event at school (sort of a Miss America for the boys) They had dinner at Subway & then came home. I made sure that Jamie locked the van & turned off the lights (that's one of his bad habits. he forgets to shut the van lights off when he drives it)

I kept telling them to set an alarm & also keep their phones close by so that they would be up & ready for THEIR flight to WDW. Both boys assured me they would be up & ready when their friend & her mom picked them up. Brendan especially assured me that he would keep his phone by his head & he'd be awake. I was leery of this but figured they would be too excited to sleep.

About 40 minutes later I'm still waiting & it's starting to rain.. I text Jim & ask him if he's on the ride yet & he tells me they still have at least half hour to go. When I tell him it's raining, he decided to leave SM & ride it another day.

Decided we had enough for one day & went back to our resort.. I set my cell phone alarm for 2AM as I wanted to call the boys & make sure they were awake & getting ready. Their friend was picking them up at 3:30am.

Shelby & Jim were acting silly & had to take some photos in the room

This is their "Partners" shot..


Jim looks so confused.

& their 'act like you like each other' shot



Here are some of the photos from Shelby's camera from today..

At the airport with statue of Franco Harris.. Shelby asked who he was.. On her FB she called him Frank O'Haris.. Guess I should teach this child some Steeler history huh?


on the plane



going under main gate



In WOD...



on Buzz




COMING UP: The reasons why we are here, almost aren't!

[Pax]

Originally Posted by disneyknut

Our Server was also inattentive.. I told her it was our first time using the dining plan at a TS & she said there was nothing to do.. it was all on the card. She took our card & when she brought back our receipts I realized I was supposed to leave the tip on the FIRST receipt she had given me (with the prices etc) I had planned on putting all of the tips on the RC but when I asked she told me she couldn't run it again. Luckily, Jim had cash on hand so we were able to tip her with that,., it did teach us quickly how to use DDP.

Wow, I'm really sorry to hear that.

Our first TS on a DDP was in AK, the buffet at Tusker House ("Donald Duck's Breakfast Safari"), and our server was bright, cheerful, friendly, helpful, informative, and even quite funny. (When DGF asked her ewhere the nearest restroom was, she started out saying "well, you go ou tthat door over there, and head left. At the big tree, take a right, and it's about five doors down" ... really had us going, I swear my jaw must have been in my lap and my eyebrows went past my hairline!)

Anyway, making sure you knew where to put the tip, really, was in the servers own best interest. I'm not sure I'd've tipped in cash (or at all) were I in your shoes.

Walked right on Monsters Inc .. This was the first time Jim had seen it & he was laughing so hard ( he LOVES corny!!) Shelby looked over at me & whispered "This truly is a magical place, look how happy Dad is"

Yes, the Laugh Floor is awesome. And, I <3 your DD's comment, by the way; saying that reflects at least as well on her as it does on Disney. Truly.

[islandgirl]

Great start!!!!! (sorry food 1900 PF wasn't better-but meeting the characters looks ). Can't wait to read more!

[Hugmonster]

Get update, but I worry about the boys making the flight!