[cinderbella]

Hello Hello!
I am back from a woonnnndeeeeerfulll trip to Walt Disney World...

The story includes:
me (here after referred to as "me" or "I")
Dave (here after referred to as "dbf" "the dave" or "dave")

Day Numero Uno:

We leave my parents house in Hilton Head at 8:30 a.m...and after what seems like a ten minute car ride we arrive at POP Century at about 2 p.m....we were given room 2210 in the 50's building..I had requested a king size room when i made the reservation, but i never followed up on it, so i wasnt too upset that they couldnt fill it...but first...we buy the refillable mugs..a red one for me..a blue one for dbf..this was a very exciting moment for us since both dbf and i have been waiting to purchase mugs since our last visit to the world...(and by the way, last yr we didnt buy them because we thought that 11.99 was too much money..but they really ARE worth it...) we head to our room...which did not have a pretty view nor was it anywhere near the classic hall..but..i got the room at the "fall into holiday rate" for 55 bucks a nite..so i wasn't complianing...we get situated and unpack and bathe and head straight to Downtown Disney..by the time we get there its about 6 p.m. so we go ahead to Earl of Sandwhich...OH MY GOD...everyone who said this place was wonderful was SO CORRECT..I had the tuna melt and dave had the earl club and they both were excellent..oh my god that bread...yummy..my mouth is watering just thinking about it...AND..we both got drinks and sandwhichs for under 15 bucks...after dinner we looked around in the shops and headed back to POP to watch the Carolina Panthers vs. Atlanta Falcons game (dbf=big football freak) sadly..the panthers lost...but dbf was kind enough not to let this effect our trip...then to bed...

sleep...sleep...sleep..

Both DBF and I were presently suprised to have not only Mickey Mouse but STITCH wake us up the next morning...btw...dbf can do a really cute impression of the Stitch wake-up call he tells us to "get movingggg" (another cute stitch thing..on the monorail it is now stitch saying..."welcome to "stitch" kingdom"...very cute)
We woke up and headed to MK to try and make the EMH and rope drop...this sort of happened...we made it to the park by 8:30...so no rope drop..but it was early enough to walk right on Peter Pan's Flight...Space Mountain..and Stitch's great escape...as for the new stitch ride...i was an alien encounter fan and i am a lilo and stitch fan so i thought this was very cute...its not my favorite..but it makes more "sense" than alien encounter did..it being disney and all..very cute..and smelly...
at 10:30 we made our way to chef mickey's...........to be continued

[cinderbella]

at 10:30 we made our way to Chef Mickey's for our 11:10 PS...now..neither one of us are "monorail savvy" and for some reason we thought it would take longer to reach Contemporary than it did..but it look like 5 minutes so needless to say we checked in...took our picture...and then sat around for 30 minutes until our table was ready...we were sat promply at 11:10..although while we were waiting we played and took pictures with santa goofy..we took pictures with all the characters and ate a lot of food...i said more than once "eat your 16.99 worth baby" and i think that we really did...the cheese potatoes are to DIE for...DBF is still talking about those...this will defineatly be a MUST every time we go..after chef mickey's we head to MGM...this is DBF and I's favorite park..for one reason..ToT...so we run..not walk..to ToT and the line is only 15 minutes...so we ride...and then ride again...then we ride RnR...then we have some ice cream (im adding this because..yes..it was warm enough to eat ice cream and it was good ice cream)..then we went to see Who wants to be a millionaire? Play It! I honestly think this is my favorite "show" type thing at WDW..last time we went it was closed for refurb..so it was our first time...needless to say..i didnt get in the "hot" seat..but it was awesome...i love the show..so that helps but the host was hillarious..then we ran to "the backlot tour" another ride i'd never done before and can't figure out why we hadn't done it..LOVED IT...then we did Star Tours...and we decided that we really don't like Star Tours all that much...the we went to eat at Toy Story Pizza Planet..and i had two major dissapointments..and i will tell you about them..now...first the pizza..is no good..second..a CM who walks around with the broom and little trash holder thingy was doing his job when a guest came up to him and said "I bet you had the same idea I had ten years ago--you come down here..you think everythings going to be great, your working for a great company--and next thing you know your a college graduate pushing trash and going by your middle name" the CM looked a little taken aback and replied "i love my job and the weather in fla. " apperantly his name badge said he was from the north..then he walked away...this left me wondering...do the CM's have to go by there middle name? Anyone know the answer to this...if not...what in the heck was that guy talking about?
BUT...back to MGM magic..after gross pizza we ran back to ToT to try to get in one more ride before Fantasmic...then we tried to go to Fantasmic..haha not happening...standing room only so we skipped it and rode ToT once more...thenwe ended the night with our MGM tradition of eating McDonalds fries on a bench on Hollywood Ave watching the people go by....it was a perfect..day...i'll be back tomorrow with day two...and pictures!! (if anyone could leave hints on how to resize pictures so i can post them...that would be fabulous)

[Erin]

OOOOH! I can't wait to hear more, Cinderbella!

WELCOME BACK :c)

[dznygrl]

Thanks for the awesome trip report! I can't wait to read more. It's helping ease some of my Disney anxiousness.

By the way...I have NO IDEA what that guy was talking about, because I never went by MY middle name! I can't think of a single CM who did. I'm telling you, a large majority of the people who do the college program do it because they think the job and everything is going to be "cake"...when it's not...that guy must be one of them! But there are that small few, like some people here from DC...MATT......who know what it's all about and absolutely LOVE working for Disney.

Hey, when I worked for Disney, I ate one meal a day and lived out of a car. I loved it THAT much. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Anyway, enough reminiscing......

[Dopey]

Yihaaaaa, another satisfied customer. Cinderbella, I love your report. More, more.
I don't know what to tell you about your pictures other than that somewhere in your computer you have a photo editing program or two or three that will let you save your pictures "web ready" (smaller in size)

[Pooh Fan]

I love the trip report so far and can't wait to read more. It sounds like you had a wonderful time!

[tiggerlover1971]

great trip report cant wait to hear more I just came back two weeks ago and I really want to go back

[Jen]

Welcome home, Cinderbella ~ can't wait to read more!

You can try resizing the pictures in Paint ~ go to Stretch/Skew and reduce the image there.

Jen

[royorb1]

Great trip report so far, ToT and R'nR are awesome!

[cinderbella]

Day Two in the parks...day three total..
Epcot day...we were woken up by stitch again, although today we skipped EMH all together and slept in a little (ok..if you consider 8:30 sleeping in thats what we did..)
We took the bus to Epcot...ran right over to get FP for Mission:Space...now those of you who know me..know that i was PETRIFIED to ride this ride because i get migraines sooooo easily and im closterphobic..but DBF was DYING to ride this ride and he said he's do it alone, but i knew i wouldnt be able to stand missing out on it...so i said we'd do it last thing...by the time we arrived i was so full of anxiety that i had to go ahead and get it over with...FP were not for another hour and a half so we hit the line for Test Track...BAD IDEA...by the way did i mention that it was FREEZING today--im from south carolina so freezings like..50 degrees..but it was cold and miserable and after twenty minutes we had moved about 5 feet so we hopped out of line and headed towards Innoventions...i wasnt crazy about Innoventions..it reminds me of a science museum they make you go to on feild trips in 4th grade...but i got to play the who wants to be a millionaire computer game so it was ok..after innoventions..it was time for the FP to mission space..in the line i felt like i was going to throw up i was sooo nervous...the time came for us to ride and i was the "navigator" dbf decided i should sit on the end so if i threw up it would only be on him and not total strangers...isnt he sweet!...and you know what...I LOVED IT...im very clausterphobic but the cool air they kept running through it made it not so bad and i didnt feel dizzy once..i did do exactly wat gary sinise said and kept my head back and eyes wide open the entire time...it was the best ride ever!!!!!
Once that was over it was off to Tepanyaki House for some counter service japanese food...for those of you who are debating buying the quick and casual meal vouchers off of hotwiresavingsclub.com...DO IT...we bought ten and saved an average of 3-5 dollars a meal..PLUS it was already paid for so we didnt have to carry around a alot of cash..but heres one thing you don't do...don't eat at tepanyaki house...we did save about 8 dollars on our meal with the Q&C vouchers...but man...it was unedible...the steak was gross...so was the shrimp and the chicken..and the dessert was chocolate chestnut ckae which was terrible..the miso soup was disgusting..it tasted like feet..the only edible thing was the rice...18 dollar rice...its incredible...the funny part was...the lasy who worked the counter at tpenyaki house made me write down the website adress where i got the Q&C meal vouchers from because she wanted some..
after our disgusting lunch..we walked around the countries...shopped a little..and rode the malestrom..then headed over for our FP time for Test Track...the wait for standby was now 120 minutes.........wow...glad we had a fast pass...we still ended up waiting for 30 minutes in the FP line...and to tell you the truth...it wasnt that good...the last few minutes were fun but the rest was just boring...after TT we walked over to "the house of mouse" were DBF began his search for his "stitch santa hat" (its a real cute santa hat with stiches ears coming out of the top of it..its adorable..tons of people had one..and everyone wanted one so they became hard to find) then we headed over to Mission Space again..this time i was without fear...and i was able to enjoy it a little more....(OH the best part..while i was getting the FP for this ride a few hours early they gave me two suprise fast passes! i saw a few other people get them too..but this was awesome..) then we ran over to Imagination, Spaceship Earth and Honey I shrunk the audience...by this time it was about 4 and we were pretty bored with Epcot so we headed over to Magic Kingdom...by the time we got there it was PACKED...so we had a hotdog at Casey's and watched the kids feed the birds even though theres a big huge sign that says dont feed the birds...then we walked over to Tomorrowland and rode the TTA...which neither one of us had ridden before...we both really liked it...and we could not stop talking in the funny announcers voice for the rest of the trip...(we'd be walking and we'll say...noooowww approaching pop century resort..fifties building..oh i guess you had to be there...) after TTA we walked around and enjoyed the sights a little bit before heading off to check out the Polynesian....more later!!

[cinderbella]

we rode the monorail over to check out 'ohanas and the ploynesian resort...it was very pretty and the dave and i pinky swore one day when were rich and married that we'd stay there...we also were given hot apple cider and christmas cookies!
the we got on the monorail to head back to Epcot for our PS at Rose and Crown..a cute story..on our way there we passed this HUGE stitch ballon and a little girl on the train said "hi stitch hi stitch" and he little sister who was probaly just over one year old..said..."hi _itch" (put a "b" where the _ is") and she ket saying it over and over..it was sooo funny...her parents were so embarassed...
Ok..so we get to R&C just before our PS and we are seated within 10 minutes on the outside patio (which is covered in the winter and supplied with heaters) we had a PERFECT view...an excellent CM named Michelle from England was our waitress and she was phenomenal..she siad if we didnt mind she hold off putting our order in so that it would be done closer to when the fireworks started so we didnt have to sit outrside in the V.I.P section in the cold for too long..DBF ordered us the drinks...he ordered a lanyard of guiness for himself...boy was he suprised to find out what a lanyward was (its half a yard)...we also ordered steak and prawns not knowing what prawns are (there shrimp) it was wonderful...we followed up with creme brule and the chocloate drumbie for desert..it was sooooooooooooooooooo good..then we walked outside just in time for illuminations to start..it was freezing cold..and very romantic..i think it was empressjenny and disneyguy who suggested that we go here and i just want to thank you because this was our absolute favorite and i think we will go here everytime we go to wdw from now on...after illumincations i couldnt feel my toes..so we headed back to the bus and went straight to bed...i'll be back tonight with day three...

[Dana]

Cinderbella-
Welcome home to DC! We missed you. I love hearing your report and cannot wait for the rest.

[tiggerlover1971]

I know what you mean about the stitch santa hat the first time I saw it I said I had to have it ( I went december 2-6 ) well that was easier said then done I had to look a whole day and I visited the CBR ( my friends were staying there ) and there it was I grabbed it so now I have the tigger one and the stitch one

[cinderbella]

Day Three...first trip to Animal Kingdom...
we got to the park late today (9:30 a.m)..dbf had to sleep off his lanyard...anyways..first impression of animal kingdom was..wow..this is a lot of trees..but..trees are good...we walked straight in the park and the wait for its tough to be a bug was 5 minutes so we went ahead and did it..GREAT show...i loved it a lot!! For a day this was my favorite 3-D at WDW..next we walked over to Dinousaur to get a FP but the line was 10 minutes..so we got a FP and then waited in the line..which was actually only about 5 minutes...this ride actually made me scream out of shock..which is something i miss...since dbf and i tend to ride so many rides over and over we tend to miss the new suprise factor...we really loved this ride...then we went to Primevil whirl, which was also only a ten minute wait that was more like five...then back to Dinosaur..and then on to lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ...where the Q&C meal vouchers were accepted...my advice..eat here..and only here at AK...i had the chicken and it was soooooooooooooooooo good...dave had the ribs and they were equally as good...and the cake...was wonderful...this IMHO...is the BEST counter service restaurant ANYWHERE in WDW....yum..my mouth is re-watering...
anyways..then on the Tarzan Rocks! Cute show...dbf and i are both professionally trained in theatre...so we could pick this apart..but i wont do that..i'd bore you..but for the ladies..this is a nice show because man...tarzan..yumm..almost as nice as the flame tree bbq...and he's VERY shiney..
then on to Asia..where we just looked around a little..then to Africa to ride Kilamanjaro Safari..haha..nice try...the line was 80 minutes...and the FP was gone..and the last safari left at 4:30 because of the early sunset so unfortunatly we skipped it...it will be the first thing we do next year...then we took the train over to Rafki's island...we met Rafki...then we decided that Rafki's island was sort of lame...so we took the train back and got a coke float in africa..where they give you a really nice pluto spoon/straw...then we shopped a little and looked around camp minnie mickey...then we decided to go home and rest..we had a long night ahead of us...

[cinderbella]

all in all i think i really like AK...next time we agreed we'll do it first so we wont be so worn out...our energy level that day had hit the bricks..
so we toook the bus back to the hotel and watched the lovely crissa on the TV for the 6 millionth time and relaxed a little bit and then headed over to MGM to try and catch Fantasmic again...
once we made it to MGM at 6...fantasmic started at seven...we tried to see if we could catch a quick ride on ToT or RnR but that wasnt in the horizion so we headed over to the ampitheatre...it was WALL to WALL people...we took iddy biddy steps..and people were so rude...i had to practically pick up a little girl in front of me because she was getting stepped on and bumped into so much that her mother had gotten seperated from her...it was terrible..i almost wanted to turn around and not watch it...but finally we got our seats and i went up and bought the dave and i a hot dog to share...which was very good by the way...the show was amazing..im glad i stayed...but honestly i will never go watch it again unless i have the dinner package..i tried and tried to get one this time but they were all booked...im glad we went...it was an amazing show..but if your going during a busy period...GET ONE OF THOSE PACKAGES ASAP...the way out was even worse..the 8:30 show had started lining up by 7:30 when we were let out of fantasmic and Hollywood Blvd was packed...dbf accidentaly kicked a stroller...and some man hit him in the stomach with his elbow on purpose! it was crazy...but the good news was the wait time for tot said 13 minutes (i thought it was funny it was 13 mins...has anyone ever seen them do that before?) so we rode it twice more before hitting up the bus to the Poly for our 9:40 PS at 'ohanas..
i booked the PS so late bc of wishes..and i will never do it again...it was pretty to see wishes from ohanas..but man was i hungry earlier in the day...honestly i was most excited about ohanas and it ended up being our least favorite place...the service was pretty bad...we never were served shrimp or pork until we asked for it forty minutes into our dinner..i was wacked hard six times with a darn hula hoop by some crazy little girl during the hula hoop contest...the steak was so rare i could barley eat it (im a medium well type of girl) and for some reason i thought id heard that the music was piped in from wishes..and it wasnt..and this man in between myself and the window thought it was funny to keep moving his head directly in my line of sight so i couldnt watch the fireworks...(he really did this, im not kidding) it was OK..we'll probaly go back because we liked it..but our experience the night before at rose and crown was sooo amazing, anything would have been hard to top that..but now...here is why i will never book a 9:40 PS....we took the monrail back to MK to catch the bus to PC...the line....was the most horrific line ive ever seen...ten buses came while i was standing in line...but here's the disney magic of it all..they all came within ten minutes...they were great about adressing the problem and fixing it...but man...if they had come ever twnety minutes like they say the do.....we would have been there all week...got back to the PC at about midnight and feel right to sleep...
i'll be back later with the last and most magical day of them all...