Our First Ever Trip Report, 2011 (note to self; need to work on that title) - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Our First Ever Trip Report, 2011 (note to self; need to work on that title)
I have never written a trip report so please bear with me as I’m sure this will be a learning experience for all of us.
A little back story: We live in South Carolina. We home school our children and so are fortunate to be able to vacation in the off season. This year we went from Sept. 11th thru Sept. 24th and stayed in the ASMusic resort using a free dining pin. This pleased my DH . Having grown up outside of Detroit he has had his fill of crowds. He also loves to save money and to eat. I grew up in Orlando, and lived there most of my life. My DF and his company helped build the Magic Kingdom so you can say my love for WDW is deep grained.
Here’s the cast of characters:
Mark my DH, “Only along for the ride”
Me, Julie, “A true and faithful Disney Nut”
Middle DS Brett, “Reluctant Disney traveler”
and youngest DS Nathan, “Lover of all things Disney”
I have included a picture of my oldest DS Taylor and his lovely girlfriend, Krista. This is the only picture of them you will see. Taylor is in his 2nd year of collage and so couldn’t take the time off to come with us this trip. This is the first vacation that we have taken with out him and he was sadly, sadly missed by his momma.
So here goes:
Sun., 9-11-2011
Nathan and I won the coin toss so we packed the car the night before and left home at 3:30AM. It is 515 miles and around a 9 hour trip. The first 3 hours mark drove, while the boys slept and I worried . You see; we were traveling on two lane rural roads with a full moon and I swear we saw no less then 40 deer standing on the sides of the road . It was a pure miracle (thank you Lord) that none of them ran out in front of us. We stopped for coffee and snacks in the little town of Appling, Georgia and I starting driving so mark could rest some. It wasn’t long before we were on the Interstate and making good time to Florida. We stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs and switch drivers at a McDonalds and then drove on.
We arrived on Disney property around 1:30ish and let me tell you I just can’t describe the feeling I get when I drive under that arch.
We had originally planned to drive half way and stay the night somewhere off the interstate and drive the rest of the way the next day. But at the last minute Mark suggested that we drive straight through and stay one extra night. Not being one to argue I called and was able to get a room only ressie for a single room for our first night. I did on-line check in before we left this time and I will do it again. There was a very long line for the regular check in and only two people in front of us in the on-line line. As we were checking in I asked if it would be possible to upgrade us to the family suite we were staying in the rest of the time (so we wouldn’t have to move) but they said that it was still occupied and wouldn’t be ready until the next day. So we got room 2420 of the Jazz building, 1st floor, facing the back. It was a nice room in a very quite section. I don’t know why sleeping in a car all day makes the boys tired but it does so we all took a nap. Later we ordered a pizza for dinner and had a relaxing evening by the pool. Very nice .
Up next, will our room move take time away from our first day at the parks?
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Great start! I can't believe how many deer you saw!
Thank You!! I couldn't either, we drive that way at least once every year to visit family that still live there or to go to Disney and we never see that many.
Great start, glad that you were able to add the extra night on to your stay. A nice relaxing evening at the resort is a great way to start the trip rested for the next day.
Yay! Push on through and have an extra night! I'm glad you made it through the deer obstacle course. It's good reflex practice for TSMM: "There's one! There's one!"
Great start Julie. I know what the deer fright can be like. Was driving home from my DSIL's a few weeks ago and as my lights crossed a field...their were literally 30 deer out there...made me anxious the rest of the way home.
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Great start, glad that you were able to add the extra night on to your stay. A nice relaxing evening at the resort is a great way to start the trip rested for the next day.
It was a great start. We usually have a big night planned to kick off our vacay but it was much nicer to take it slow and we felt much better the next day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by truenancy
Yay! Push on through and have an extra night! I'm glad you made it through the deer obstacle course. It's good reflex practice for TSMM: "There's one! There's one!"
I normally try to sleep while DH's driving but I couldn't shut my eyes for a minute!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Colexis Mom
Great start Julie!
Thank You!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cheeser
Great start Julie. I know what the deer fright can be like. Was driving home from my DSIL's a few weeks ago and as my lights crossed a field...their were literally 30 deer out there...made me anxious the rest of the way home.
Me too! It really worries me when the kids drive at night this time of year. How is your SIL. I remember that you said she was dia. with MS. I have two friends who are dealing with it also
.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cam22
Great start, Julie!
Thank You! Just please don't check my grammar 'cause I'm not going to be careful. LOL
Monday, 9-12
Today we moved to room 526. I say WE moved but that’s not exactly accurate.
In the morning we ate light in the room and then packed up our bags and set them by the windows. Then we went to the front desk to do the paperwork to check out of one room and into the other and place our valuables, the big camera, cash, etc. in a free safety deposit box behind the counter. The line waiting for regular check in was long, I wish I had done on-line check in for this room also, but it didn’t take long once we got up to the counter. Soon we had our new Key To The World cards in hand and were on our way.
We stopped in the food court and decided to only buy 2 refillable mugs because we wanted to save money and we had brought 12 6-packs of assorted sodas.
Finally we were off to Epcot because Tour Guide Mike said that it was a low crowd park today. We didn’t wait long for a bus so we were there in no time. We decided that because we were eating most of our table service dinners in the countries in Epcot this trip we would devote our full day today to the front half of the park. We rode Spaceship Earth (with no wait) and then played some of the games. Love this ride!
Mark took all of our cards and went over and picked up Soarin fast passes because when we were here in 2009 the wait for that ride was 70 minutes. After he got them he met us outside Test track. I think the wait time was 10 minutes. This is the FIRST TIME in history that I rode this ride. On the ride I could tell Mark wanted to throw his hands up over his head but he kept his right arm tight across my shoulders instead (my hero). They have all wanted me to ride this for a long time and so they were really excited that I had. I wasn’t as scared as I thought I would be but look how I‘m holding the bar.
Then we went over and the boys rode Mission Space orange; twice because the line wasn’t long. I didn’t and never will! I promise! Instead I got a pretzel from the cart outside and sat on the wall and people watched until they were done.
Next, we went over to ride Soarin. The Land was CROWDED but we had fast passes so we didn’t worry. We practically walked right on. We were seated in the middle row of seats so we could see feet dangling above us if we looked up but it was easy to zone them out and concentrate on the scenes in front of us. What a great ride! First of many times we will ride this one!!
Since it was in the same building we boarded a boat for “Living with The Land”. This is not an exciting ride but it is very interesting and we try not to miss it every time we come.
The boys were getting hungry by now so we decided to eat in “Sunshine Seasons”. We had heard that the selections were good and we heard right because there was alot to choose from. We ordered: Chicken Salad, Sweet and Sour chicken, (2) Reuben Paninis for our main meal and a small bowl of tomato soup just to try. We found seats way in the back away from all the commotion. All of the food was very good and you got a lot. We would definitely go back. While we were there I realized that I had lost my Refillable mug .
After we where done we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends and rode a clam mobile.
As we were leaving that area we came across The Jamanators. We stopped to listen and Mark tapped me on the shoulder and motioned for me to look over at the boys. They had the biggest smiles on their faces but when they saw me going for the camera of course they stopped.
We had headed over to sample the Cokes from around the world (ever notice how sticky this store is) when I got a text that our room was ready. We decided to go back to the resort to rest before dinner. Well, they would try to rest, I would try to get them to help me unpack.
We didn't wait long for a bus this time either. When we got back to the resort we stopped in at the front desk to retrieve our things from the safety deposit box and the CM who was training the girl helping us was asking about our day. One of the things I told her was that I had lost my refillable mug. I didn’t think anything more about it until she came back from the back with 4 new refillable mugs . Unexpected magic like that sure starts your vacation off right!
While we were at the park guest services picked up our bags from our old room and delivered them to our new room so they were there when we arrived. That was no small feat as we had 20 bags. Since we would have a mini kitchen this time we had brought food to have breakfast in the room with snacks, sodas and all of our clothes.
We had room 526, a family suite on the backside, 2nd floor of the Calypso building. Being the 2nd room from the outside end and facing a wooded area made it very quite and secluded. We could see the parking lot to the left but didn’t hear any noise. We did hear the other rooms toilet flushing really loud at night. Mark said next time we could request a third floor room because then we wouldn’t hear them. The hallways and especially the doors of the building had what looked like mold stains on them. The outside of these buildings were in sore need of a spruce up; but the inside was nice and clean. I unpacked our things with a little help (from those who would have happily lived out of a suit case) and then we rested until it was time to go eat.
Dinner that night was in Epcot at Biergarten in the Germany pavilion at 6:30p.m. We always eat lunch here so we were looking forward it. The atmosphere seemed crowded and loud to me because the tables were so close together. You sit “family style” meaning more than one family shares a table. They were set up on tiers in a semi circle with a dance floor and the band below. It was defiantly quaint. It looked like what I imagined a charming German village would look like. Dinner was a buffet, I had a glass of white wine and DH had a German beer as big as his head. We thought that the food was just O.K. but the people we sat with were really nice so that made up for it. We will continue to stop here for lunch but we would probably not go back for dinner.
After dinner we had planned to watch Illuminations but as sometimes happens when we eat at a buffet; dinner wasn’t staying with my youngest son long ( if you know what I mean) so we went back to the room and had a relaxing evening. The perfect end to a great day!
Up next, It had become obvious that that scratch across my DS face wasn’t a scratch !
Last edited by davishomeschool; 10-17-2011 at 12:16 PM..
What a great day at Epcot! I agree, the floor at Club Cool is always sticky and yucky. And how great the CM gave you 4 refillable mugs, that was truly magical! Can't wait to read more!
PassPorter's Free-Book to Walt Disney World It’s hard to believe anything is free at Walt Disney World; but there are actually a number of things you can get or do for little to no cost. This e-book documents over 200 free or cheap tips to do before you go and after you arrive. You could save a considerable amount of money following these tips. Perhaps more importantly; you can discover overlooked attractions and little-known details most people whiz by on their way to spend money. Click here to see free sample pages from the e-book! Get this popular e-book free of extra charges when you join the PassPorter's Club for as little as $4.95. A club pass includes access to all our other e-books; e-worksheets; super-size photos; and more! This e-book is also available for separate purchase in the PassPorter Online Store for just $5.95.
About This Page: 
. Having grown up outside of Detroit he has had his fill of crowds. He also loves to save money and to eat. I grew up in Orlando, and lived there most of my life. My DF and his company helped build the Magic Kingdom so you can say my love
for WDW is deep grained. 
. It was a pure miracle (thank you 
Lord) that none of them ran out in front of us. We stopped for coffee and snacks in the little town of Appling, Georgia and I starting driving so mark could rest some. It wasn’t long before we were on the Interstate and making good time to Florida. We stopped for lunch and to stretch our legs and switch drivers at a McDonalds and then drove on. 
I called and was able to get a room only ressie for a single room for our first night. I did on-line check in before we left this time and I will do it again. There was a very long line for the regular check in and only two people in front of us in the on-line line. As we were checking in I asked if it would be possible to upgrade us to the family suite we were staying in the rest of the time (so we wouldn’t have to move) but they said that it was still occupied 
and wouldn’t be ready until the next day. So we got room 2420 of the Jazz building, 1st floor, facing the back. It was a nice room in a very quite section. I don’t know why sleeping in a car all day makes the boys tired 
but it does so we all took a nap. Later we ordered a pizza for dinner and had a relaxing evening by the pool. Very nice 
.
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Pixie Dust
PassPorter Guide Author
I can't believe how many deer you saw! 
I promise! Instead I got a pretzel from the cart outside and sat on the wall and people watched until they were done.
.
going for the camera of course they stopped.
. Unexpected magic like that sure starts your vacation off right!
if you know what I mean) so we went back to the room and had a relaxing evening. The perfect end to a great day!
!
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