My Surprise Disney Trip: Wrap-Up TR COMPLETE 5/19/05 About This Page:

[BritDisFan]

Hurrah Dawn you've arrived , can't wait to hear about Caribbean Beach.

Karen

[Tara O'Hara]

Dawn great start! Nice limo!! Can't wait to read more!!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great start Dawn (and great pictures too)! More please

[luvnwdwgal]

Hurry back with more Dawn!!

[DawnDenise]

Checking out the Caribbean Beach and Day 1 of EPCOT.

<font color="red">After our brief little trip in our town car, we unload at Caribbean Beach, tip the driver (it wasn’t his fault the dude that lead us to the car was rude), and head to check-in at the Custom House. I am pleasantly surprised to see that there were not lines upon lines of people waiting to check-in. This is the first time we have come and not stayed in a Value and were used to the lobbies there. We are third in line and are called up to the desk in no more than 5 minutes.

John (I think) pulled up our reservations and we had dual reservations going. No big deal. He calls central reservations, gets one deleted and makes sure we have all our amenities on the right one. He hands us our “Keys to the World” cards tells us our room is ready and directs us to the area where bell services will take us to our rooms.

Blonde moment of the day: Instead of taking the time and getting some pictures of the Custom House, the scenery, etc. I plop my behind right down on a seat and wait.

Ok…bell services yells our name and off we go. We pile up into a van and head over to Aruba, building 54, room 5457. Our room was on the second floor and we didn’t mind that at all. Of course we didn’t…we were full of energy. Our driver brought our luggage up and after we tipped him, we took a couple of pictures of the room. Our room overlooked a big garden area. It had a king size bed (which was one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept on). The colors were bright and definitely had the Caribbean feel.




Chuck wanted to get unpacked before we headed out to any of the parks. I wanted to just leave it and head straight out. We toss a coin. Chuck wins, so we unpack. I will tell you honestly, his unpacking was all neat and orderly. Mine was more a throw everything into the drawers and hang up the three things that needed to be hung. So, we organize or little backpack, make sure we have enough film and head over to Old Port Royale to get our mugs. Along the way, we take a couple more pics.





We purchase our refillable mugs, fill them up of course and go to the bus stop in front of Old Port Royale to head to EPCOT. It was a non-eventful bus ride and we arrive at the gates of EPCOT. We go through security and then through the turnstiles and see Spaceship Earth. It’s not as emotional as the Castle but it makes me feel as I am really there. We tackle a photographer as we have to get a Photopass and get some pictures taken.

(See Signature Picture)

Next on the agenda is finding our Leave a Legacy tile we got on our honeymoon in 2000. We did this on out anniversary trip in 2001 but the picture ended up being of my thumb instead of the tile. We succeed on getting a picture of it this year.



We start into the park and notice that there is literally no wait for Spaceship Earth. Well…off we go and we get right on. I love this ride. I can’t really explain why but I do. He wants to go on it again but he said he would wait because we would be back tomorrow. We had planned to devote today to the World Showcase. Chuck really wants to do the whole passport thing. His “excuse” is that it will be a great scrapbook souvenir, which I have to agree with. I think he like flirting with all the women of the “worlds” But I digress…

We pick up a Passport as we enter the World Showcase and start in Canada as dinner was at the San Angel Inn in Mexico. It was the opening weekend of the Flower and Garden Festival, and it was spectactular. They have topiaries all over the place of characters. Throughout the next two days I snapped pictures of as many as I could. We came across Bambi, Flower and thumper first in Canada.



We walked around Canada and decided to bypass “O’Canada” as I tend to get a little woozy in the circle vision pictures. Next stop is United Kingdom. Now I love this country for many reasons, the main being home of the Pooh characters. We wander through the stores, hit the Kidstop location for Chuck to get the passport stamped and signed. I turn around as Chuck is getting it signed and see Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore. I immediately get into line and patiently wait my turn. I am such a little kid when it comes to characters and I am so excited that my first character meeting of the world is with these three. My turn arrives and I immediately hug all of them and they pass around my autograph book. All of them show interest that their pictures are in my book and sign away. Tigger gets it first and as soon as he hands it off, he immediately grabs my hands and starts bouncing. So for about 3 minutes, we bounce. Chuck got a picture of it but it came out fuzzy. After all the playing and getting more hugs, we get the group shot.



We left my buddies and headed through the rest of the World Showcase. We come across some more topiaries of Pooh, Eeyore, and Piglet. (I had Tigger too but the sun caused too much of a glare.)

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Next: The rest of the WS, Illuminations, and a surprise.

[loobyoxlip]

Love the new sig pic, Dawn!! Great installment!

[mamapajama]

Great report and nice pics. I love Spaceship Earth too! Your LaL tile is cool too! We really regrat not doing the Walkway tile around MK when they were doing it. maybe we'll do a LaL tile (or 2 we have AP's) when we go back in August.

Elise

[TinkerBelz]

I'm enjoying your trip report. I used to live in Indy (I think you live on the Northside, right? The apartments look very familiar to me. Like some I knew off of Meridian Street). I live in Seymour now, about an hour and a half south of you.

Anyways, the pictures are great as well as the account of your tales. Looking forward to more!

Yvonne

[Jillybean]

Those topiaries are gorgeous!!!

Jill

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Dawn!! Your pictures are gorgeous, including your new sig picture!! Hurry back with more!!

[GATechGal]

Great update Dawn. Thanks so much for the pix of CBR. We're going there in Oct. and the kiddos were very interested to see the pictures.

[zacksmom_1993]

Dawn,

I'm really enjoying your trip report and all of your pictures at Epcot. But, I your pictures of CBR. All of the colors are so bright and vibrant; it's like I'm right there with you! Can't wait to the rest!

Karen

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Dawn More please

[luvnwdwgal]

Great pics Dawn! My DH and I stayed on property for the first time in '98 at CBR, but the rooms weren't as colorful then as they are in your pictures! I'm like your DH, I like to unpack everything really nice as soon as we get to the room. Looking forward to your next installment!

[DawnDenise]

[b]The rest of the WS, Illuminations, and a surprise.

<font color="red">We run through France pretty quickly. We stop and watch some of the street performers doing some chair balancing. We head into Morocco and linger a bit. Chuck gets the passport signed and I am snapping tons of pictures. We linger through some stores and Chuck decided he is hungry. We pull out the map and look at our options. I throw out some suggestions but he wants American Fare so it’s the Liberty Inn counter service. We start to head out of Morocco and we run into Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie. Well, we gotta stop and get pictures. Chuck is excited to see that the Genie is there. It is one of the characters that he wanted to meet.



After our mini photo shoot with the Aladdin crew, we by pass Japan as Chuck is getting a little grouchy because that white mocha latte from Starbucks just didn’t fill him up and head to USA. Of the past times I have been here, this is the first time I actually looked around this showcase. I scope out a table as Chuck gets the food. I order a cheeseburger combo as does he. We also have a couple of diet cokes. The total came to $14.67 but it counts as one of our meals so we are good to go. Now that we have a full belly we check the time and realize that we only have 2.5 hours before our PS at San Angel Inn. Uh-oh….not going to be very hungry. Before we leave the USA, we are entertained by the drum and fife corps.





We continue on into Italy and Germany snapping pictures and going through the stores. Chuck continues to hit all the Kidstops to get the Passport taken care of. We decide to stop for a drink in Germany and get sidetracked talking to a couple from New England. They notice Chuck’s Colts jersey and they are big Patriot fans. The men “battle” back and forth about what the teams, the quarterbacks, etc. We finish up our drinks, say good-bye to our acquaintances, and head to China and Norway. I love the Stave Church in Norway.

The Stave Church
Opening for the Maelstrom

The wait for the Maelstrom isn’t long so we wait and take a ride. Afterwards, we head on over to Mexico.



We decide to do some people watching after wandering through Mexico and grabbing a Margarita. We have about 30 minutes before our 7:00 PS and just enjoy being in WDW. We toast to the start of long awaited trip and I thank him once again for bringing me here.

Time to check in for PS. We get our little buzzer and wait. Chuck and I are amazed how many people expect to walk right in and get a seat. People are very upset about the waits. Thank goodness for PS. Chuck jostles me from a little catnap as our buzzer goes off.
Like a lot of my fellow Passporters, the ambiance of the San Angel Inn is beautiful. We order the Queso Fundido for an appetizer, which I highly recommend. Chuck orders the Combinacion Cozumel (Grilled beef tenderloin, marinated shrimp and roasted chipotle served with spicy ranchero sauce, chipotle pepper mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables) and I order the Plato Mexicano (Beef Tenderloin Tampiquena, chicken enchilada, and ground beef burrito, served with refried beans and rice). Chuck cleans his plate and I leave mine with some leftovers. I am not that hungry since we had such a late lunch. But is there room for dessert???? OF course there is!! We both order this chocolate thing that had Kahlua in it. Wow…that is a yummy dessert. Even though we are on the Gold Plan, we keep a tally of what the meals cost us. Total cost: $88.08 with tip.

After dinner, we search out a spot for Illuminations. This will be our first time seeing this nighttime spectacular. We actually find a great spot near Mexico up against the railing. Chuck excuses himself for a moment as I save our places. As I wait I snap a picture right after the torches are lit around the WS. (This ends up being the only picture of the show and you’ll understand why in a moment.)



Chuck comes back with two more Margaritas!! I have trained him well. Just kidding. Anyway, We snuggle up because it was getting quite chilly while we are waiting and I did not bring a sweatshirt. They make the announcement with five minutes to go and Chuck whispers in my ear that he has another little surprise for me. Curious…I think. We are already married. I turn around to face him and he hands me a little box. I open the box, and it is a ring. He states that he wanted to get me the ring for this trip because our past has been rocky with his work and school schedule, our present is terrific (hey we’re in WDW), and our future has so much in store for us. I start to cry as I take it out. It is one of the past, present, and future rings with three diamonds. Not huge by any means but gorgeous and what I have been hinting about. He could not get it sized so it had to go right back into the box and I will provide a picture once I get it back which should any day now. As Illuminations begins, my eyes are filled with tears and we just enjoy the moment.

Illuminations was amazing!!! I want to kick myself for never seeing it before this. We put the soundtrack on our list of must buys for this trip. We slowly make our way out of EPCOT, knowing we would be back tomorrow. Time to head back to our “home” for the next week and get some sleep.

The weather today was: high 70’s in the day and 50’s in the evening.
The best thing today was: Arriving in the World.
The worst thing today was: The car dude at the airport
The funniest thing today was: Bouncing with Tigger
Today we tried: San Angel Inn
The most magical moment today was: Chuck surprising me with my ring before Illuminations.
Number of photos taken: 65

Next: Another Day @ EPCOT with the emphasis on Future World