A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes... Our Sharing the World pretrip report
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Dream Weaver · 09-21-2008, 04:03 AM

Can’t believe it, just two weeks till the planning and packing is done and the adventure begins! We started planning back in early June when we found great airfares and had a business function that happened to be in Orlando...oh gee, what a shame!

I should probably title this “The BIG kids go to Disney World” because that’s closer to the truth. For now, I’ll borrow that famous line...

A Dream is a Wish your Heart Makes... Our Sharing the World pretrip report

This is how it started...

Once upon a time...for that is how many of the best stories begin... A small princess and her princely siblings went to visit the Land, Disneyland to be specific. Now all of them fell under the enchantment of this magical Kingdom, and begged to return from time to time to renew their acquaintance with old friends found there. Each time they visited they made new friends as well.

But perhaps I have to go back a bit farther...
The Princess Karen was the eldest of the three. She made her first visit to the Land in 1957 when her her family was residing in a nearby village. The following year the family took up residence in a shire to the north, far from the magical land, but it lived in her heart.

The young princes, her brothers, arrived in 1959 and 1964. The first, Prince Mark was quite lovable but sometimes tried the patience of the princess sorely. (He would grow to be the finest pirate of the lot!) He won’t come into this story much, as he prefers not to travel by plane and elected not to travel to the World at this time. The second was a gentler soul, imaginative and artistic. Prince Thomas would one day become a fine troubadour. He was always fascinated with pyrotechnics (Cue the fireworks!) and was enamored with amusement parks.

All of them loved their rare visits to the Land, enduring hours, dare I say, an entire day or more, of travel by auto coach. Before they reached their destination there would certainly be crushing games of “jelly” in the backseat, to say nothing of asking “how much farther?” innumerable times. The Queen, their mother, would patiently entertain them, while the King drove.

When the day of a visit arrived, all eyes were glued to the coach windows hoping to be the first to catch a glimpse of the Matterhorn. (or later, Space Mountain) On each visit they found new adventures. Once they met bands of pirates, then ghosts moved into the mansion that had stood empty for so long. They Journeyed through Inner Space and visited the Carousel of Progress as well as touring the House of the Future. Having faithfully watched the World of Disney on Sunday evenings, (The first TV was purchased amid great fanfare when the princess was 6) the wonders of audioanimatronics were no less amazing when the Tiki Room birds serenaded or the Small World children sang.

In time the family moved farther away, to the distant state of Michigan. Visits to the Land were too difficult (expensive) said the King and Queen. It was during that time that a proclamation was heard announcing the opening of a new Land, a World in fact. Oh how the princess and princes wished they could go! They studied the maps, read every scrap of paper relating to the new World and watched through the years as it grew.

As the World grew, so did the princess and her brothers. They moved yet again (the actual number of moves they made was astounding) back to the west, from whence it was once again possible to make occasional visits to the beloved Land of Disney. Following one such visit the youngest prince, Prince Thomas, put together a marvelous tribute and presentation on Disneyland. The slides he used are still marked with the code he devised for this event.

When the time came for the princess to marry, she was fortunate to meet Prince Brian from a neighboring village, who also loved to visit the Land. When the two were married, Prince Thomas, then 14, bestowed admission tickets to the land as his wedding gift. A wonderful time was had by all.

While the Land remained wonderful, the dream of one day traveling to the World continued to flourish. As time passed the Princess and her Prince had a child of their own. They were able to take him to visit the Land as he grew but the World was far, far away...would they ever be able to go? Time flew by until one day they looked at one another and said “Soon our child will be grown, if we want to go as a family we must go soon!” And so, in 2001, they scraped their pennies together and began to plan a first visit to Disney World for January 2002.

To say they had a grand adventure would be an understatement! Even before the plane landed on their return flight, they had begun to talk about what they might do on a return trip! When they returned home after visiting the World, the Princess shared her excitement with her parents and brothers, encouraging them to take adventures of their own.

As time passed, Princess Karen and Prince Brian traveled to the World again, both alone and with the Queen who was delighted discover things she had never imagined! Each time they visited and watched the fireworks and electrical parades they would say, “Wouldn’t Prince Thomas love that!?” And so, a new dream was born to bring Prince Thomas to the World.

Now Prince Thomas had always kept the dream of the World alive in his heart, but it had been many years since he had been even to the Land. As a fine, but often unemployed troubadour, it’s sometimes hard to make ends meet. At one time, when he thought the dream was almost within reach, he discovered a conflict with his childrens education, and the plan was shelved.

This year, as the Princess and her Prince were about to celebrate their 30th anniversary, they discovered some exceedingly good airfares from West coast destinations and decided to invite Prince Thomas to be their guest for an October adventure. After shuffling the schedule a bit, he agreed. Prince Thomas then asked his love, the Lady Marguerite, to accompany him as she has never visited the World either.

And so, our cast of characters is met:
Myself, Princess Karen, 52
Dear husband, Prince Brian, 52
Brother, Prince Thomas, 44
His Love, Lady Marguerite, 53

NanaTink · 09-21-2008, 07:36 AM

Great start! Can't wait to watch the tale unfold!

lissybri · 09-21-2008, 09:27 AM

I am loving this fairytale. Can't wait to read what happens next.

**Colexis Mom** · 09-21-2008, 10:13 AM

Great start

Dream Weaver · 09-21-2008, 01:52 PM

The Times and Travels

And so, on October the 5th, Princess Karen and Prince Brian will place packed bags in their trusty Volvo coach for the 5 hour drive to PDX, arriving in time for dinner in Portland with their son, Sir Reid. (Belated birthday celebration for both Brian and Reid).

“Why drive so far, just to fly?” you ask. With gas so high that’s a fair question. Back in June, before the 100 day mark, we discovered $240 fares from Portland, OR or Sacramento (or San Jose), CA. Now this is less than we paid on any of the last three trips, $300 per person less than flying from our local airport, do the math. It still comes out cheaper to drive, leave our car at a stay and park hotel and fly on October 6th.

PDX to SFO, then a looong flight to MCO. Last time I checked, we get in around 11pm! We will make our vehicular transport arrangements and pick a mount for our stay from the local stable. (Great rate on that too!) As we drive toward POP we’ll probably muse, “How could it be this late? Feels like 8pm to us...Why are the restaurants all closed? Oh...that’s right...time change!” I know I read somewhere that there is one 24 hour dining establishment on property, Note to self...find out where.

For Prince Thomas, we arranged a flight that will leave San Jose, CA early morn on the 9th of October.(We had hoped he could come sooner, but schedule conflicts arose) He will spend the previous night at a nearby inn that will stable his vehicle until he returns. The Lady Marguerite will accompany him on this portion of the journey.

njsmama · 09-21-2008, 04:48 PM

Sounds like a wonderful story in the makings! Can't wait for more!

Dream Weaver · 09-21-2008, 06:01 PM

Great Expectations...The plans unfold

As most plans do, change and flexibility became key in planning our adventure. We’ve shuffled dates, airports, times, hotels, and ADRs we haven’t gone anywhere yet!

Princess Karen planned to share the full wonder, joy and magic of the World with first time visitors, Prince Thomas and Lady Marguerite. Their room was booked at POP with a AAA rate (it would only cost $10/person to add them to our room, and there was that extra bed, just sitting there anyway.) so they would get to stay on property, a deluxe/mod wasn’t in the budget for this trip.

That was before the email and ensuing call from Prince Thomas which went something like...
PT “Um...Karen... we just read online that the beds at POP are Doubles...”
PK “Yes, is that a problem?”
PT ”You’ve stayed there before and they were big enough?” (tone of disbelief)
PK ”We’ve stayed there three times, never had a problem.”
PT “Well...we sometimes find that even a queen is a bit small”
PK “So you’d like me to see what I can with queen beds for a similar price?
PT “That would be nice...”

Now Princess Karen is an avid reader of the passporterboards and several other Disney related sites, so she set out to find an alternative accommodation for the nights of October 9-12. The 7-9 would certainly remain at POP. (She will get to add the 6th, but that comes later)

Where oh where would they stay? Lists with all the pros and cons of staying on property were sent.
Free parking...it will cost us to park if we stay off property.
EMH... we don’t like to get up early on vacation anyway, No evening EMH we were going to do those nights...No real loss there.
Not using Disney transportation much anyway, since we have a rental car.
Most of the Downtown Disney Resorts have double beds, that won’t work. Those with queens don’t have the best reviews.
Let’s look at the AAA site... Hmmm... None of the cheap ones have queen beds either...Courtyard Marriott at Marriott Village...Queen Beds...same price as Best Western Lake Buena Vista, but looks cleaner... About the same price as POP...Call to confirm that the beds really are queens...they say yes, better be! Booked.

So from October 9-13 the lords and ladies of the land will call the Courtyard at Marriott Village home. In their defense, the efforts of Princess Karen to make this change were truly appreciated.

NanaTink · 09-21-2008, 06:06 PM

Cccchanges! gotta love changes...has any of us EVER ended up with the trip we first book?
Great start! Thanks for sharing!

loubell · 09-21-2008, 06:12 PM

I'm loving this story! More, please!

Dream Weaver · 09-21-2008, 08:11 PM

Thanks to all for sharing our plans. As you may have noticed...I can write just fine, but can't get a picture the right size to upload, hence no pictures yet. I have a love/hate relationship with computers!

Anyway, on with the tale.

We’ll be Where...when...doing what?

After a late night arrival on October 6, Princess Karen and Prince Brian will check in at POP after a probable stop at DTD for a bite to eat. They will have most of three days to themselves before their companions arrive.

First real day at the World...

October 7 will be off and running to their personal favorite breakfast buffet, Boma with an 8:45 ADR. If funding allowed, we would stay at AKL every visit. But alas, not this year. (We ended up here in 2002 after dual hotel changes following 9-11. We had been booked at POP but they delayed the opening and moved us to POFQ I think. Then they closed that for refurbishment and offered us an incredible deal to move to AKL. We’ve been spoiled ever since. I want to wake up with a giraffe in my yard every day!)

After a leisurely breakfast and a trip to visit with the flamingos and other wildlife it will be a short drive to Animal Kingdom. On the must see/do list here are Festival of the Lion King, Flights of Wonder, Primeval Whirl (but it will be down for Refurbishment), Nemo and Kilimanjaro Safaris. Both the Princess and her Prince have an aversion to damp clothing and have never ridden Kali River Rapids, it looks like fun, but is it worth getting wet? Will they try it this trip? Time will tell...

Then there’s that large mountain lurking in the far corner of the park...Everest? That’s the one. They’ve never ridden that either. The Princess Karen is terrified by most large/fast roller coasters, the whole going fast backwards thing looks awful...is it? (She did ride RRC once, just to say she had, but won’t do so again.) Perhaps Princes Brian and Thomas can partake of this expedition later in the week while the ladies remain below.

Late in the day the pair will travel toward Epcot, possibly by way of Beaches and Cream for a tasty smackeral, before entering World Showcase.

In all of the World, this is the place Princess Karen loves best. Something about the feel of World Showcase is living magic, the way you wish the whole world could be all the time...but I digress. There is no set plan to the evening, though visits to Test Track and Soarin’ will be included if the lines aren’t too long. Wonder what they’re serving up the Food and Wine Fest this year.

The highlight of the day should be Illuminations. (unless the weather fails to cooperate) The perfect end to a perfect day is a Prince and Princess of any age strolling around the shore of World Showcase after most of the throng has exited the park. Did you know that after the fireworks end they replay all of the Illuminations score, as well as the music from the Tapestry of Dreams parade?

**Colexis Mom** · 09-21-2008, 08:37 PM

More great updates!!

marymax · 09-21-2008, 09:37 PM

Fun reading. We're loking forward to an October adventure as well.

Try Kali River Rapids!!! We went on a cold day in January and after wqtching others come off soaked, my sis and I broke down and bought ponchos for us and the kids. We were able to stay on board for two rides and not one of us were wet.

My scrapbook page shows the kids wearing the ponchos,drinking hot chocolates and is titled "Priceless" after the old MasterCard ads!

Dream Weaver · 09-22-2008, 12:53 AM

Day 2, Eighth October

We’re off to see...

This is the mystery day in the mix. The ADR Princess Karen hoped to get for breakfast was 1900 Park Fare, but the kindly CM said 9:55 was the earliest available. Not eat breakfast until 9:55 or later? We might skip lunch, or have it really late... but breakfast is a big deal, preferably before 9.

Now why would two 52 year olds want to try a character breakfast?
A. We never have.
B. While autographs aren’t a hot button, Mary Poppins and Alice are rumored to appear here and we like them.
C. It sounds like fun!
So on the morrow we will call once again to see if our table has opened up. (about 8:30 would be good I should think)

After Breakfast has been procured, a journey to DHS is in order. If Toy Story Mania is even half as good as reports say, it will require more than a single visit. Prince Brian will surely get the highest score, he always does. Though if Sir Reid were along to try it, the rest would likely be left in the dust.

Each time Prince Brian and Princess Karen have traveled to the World they have visited the Studios. While not the largest park by any means, it is the only one they always get lost in, at least once.

On two January visits they were able to experience the Osborne Light extravaganza, Wow!

They have visited the wonderfully hokey, but delightful, Sci-Fi Drive-in diner on each trip. A great place to sip a milkshake and enjoy bits of Sci-fi classics on a hot afternoon. Today will not be the Sci-Fi though, as there is a Sunday ADR here.

In considering the attractions and entertainment here, opinions are split. Prince Brian rather enjoys RRC, Princess Karen says never again. While neither especially enjoyed ToT when they rode in 2002, there was no line that day so they really didn’t have a chance to enjoy the details in the queue area. Perhaps they’ll try it again this trip.

The Lights, Camera, Action Stunt show rated a ho-hum here, so unless the first timers want to see it, we won’t. As a stunt show, Indiana Jones is still more entertaining. Muppets is a must do, bad jokes and all. Everyone enjoys Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. The Great Movie Ride and the Canyon are fun if you don’t have to wait too long.

Princess Karen likes the look of the lunch Menu at The Brown Derby...wonder if they have room for a late lunch ADR...ask when calling about 1900 Park Fare.

This won’t be the evening that Brian and Karen see Fantasmic (ok, so it wouldn’t hurt to see it twice) so they’ll be hopping first to AK for evening EMH as they’ve never seen that park in the evening. Plans are afoot to try the Safaris when more of the evening critters are up and about. Time to enjoy some of the walking trails will be fun too.

If EMH at AK end at 7, there should still be time to scoot back to Epcot for awhile, then some shopping at DTD. The fun never ends!

bsblady01 · 09-22-2008, 01:45 AM

more please

I live with a 'Stitch'! · 09-22-2008, 02:17 AM

Princess Karen! Enjoying your TR--you'll have such fun showing the first-timers around!
We are going to be at POP on the 7th too, with plans to head to AK early! Better get some pictures uploaded so I can see what you look like to keep an eye out for you!!