[LilSteph79]

Hi everyone! I got back from my first Disney trip, with my boyfriend, Dan, about a week ago, and it's been hard to get back into the swing of things at home after having such a fun vacation! So that is why I didn't post a trip report right away, but I am going to now.

DAY ONE
Half of the first day (Saturday, 9/7) was spent travelling, and we arrived at the Yacht Club around 2:00, at which time our room was ready. The room was very nice, and although we had paid for a standard room, there were so few people staying there that they gave us a waterview room for free! Our room had a direct view of the "lighthouse" where the shuttle boats picked up passengers, as well as a view of the Boardwalk, which was quite busy on a Saturday night.

We hadn't made many definite plans for the first night, so I took a nap for about an hour, then walked around the resort area. At 6:00, Dan and I at at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. The food was great, especially the steamed clams, the clam chowder, and the make-it-yourself strawberry shortcake. (I do have a weakness for strawberry shortcake, though, so I'm partial.) After dinner, we walked around on the Boardwalk, got Pop Rocks at the candy store (I was already feeling like a kid again!), and walked over to see the outside of Epcot, although it was closed. We then headed to bed early, as we were both exhausted.

DAY TWO
On Sunday, 9/8, we walked over to Epcot shortly before it was to open. We spent the morning and early afternoon in Future World, and I was able to get on practically all the rides with no wait at all, even the popular ones like Test Track. (My favorite ride, which I rode twice, was Spaceship Earth. I love the Disney animatronics! They are so lifelike.) We had lunch at the Garden Grill, with some of the Disney characters. Dan thought it was hilarious playing Tic-Tac-Toe with Chip (or was it Dale?) because when Chip had no way of winning, he scratched out the game and started over again.

After riding all the rides in Future World and playing around at Innoventions, (which Dan, the science geek, loved :p), we headed over to World Showcase. I loved the themes of the different countries, the music, the shops, the smells of the food...everything. For dinner, we went to Biergarten in Germany. I was afraid the food would be all sausages and sauerkraut, but there were so many other things to choose from that I found more than enough to eat. The cold salad bar was excellent, as were the apple pastries with vanilla sauce. Yum...just thinking about it makes me hungry!

That evening, both Tapestry of Dreams parades were cancelled due to the weather, which had been a little rainy earlier and was now just windy. But we stuck around until Illuminations, which was wonderful. A few of the Disney cast members had even told us that they preferred the Illuminations fireworks to the ones at Magic Kingdom, and although I've never seen the latter, the ones at Epcot were pretty amazing.

After Epcot closed, it was back to the Boardwalk for some more browsing, then to the Beach Club, where we split a sundae at Beaches and Cream. While we were there, a group of people ordered the Kitchen Sink, which has about 8 scoops of ice cream, a full can of whipped cream, brownies, candy bars, etc. all in one bowl. They couldn't finish it, but I don't know who could! It was impressive. Then we went back to our room, and soon went to sleep.

DAY THREE
On Monday, 9/9, Dan and I went to Magic Kingdom, arriving when it opened. This was the park I had looked forward to the most, and I was not disappointed! It really felt like Disney. We went to Tomorrowland first to hit Space Mountain and ExtraTerrorestrial Alien Encounter before they got too crowded, and we had no problem with lines for these rides. We got on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, which was definitely made for children, but I enjoyed beating Dan at target practice!

Then we went to Fronteirland, and even though it was close to 11:00, we didn't have to wait long on the lines for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, or even Splash Mountain, which was my favorite Magic Kingdom ride. (Although I'm sure I would have loved Haunted Mansion, but alas, it was closed for renovations while we were there. ) I had that "How do you do, Fine, how are you" song stuck in my head all day! But I liked it.

After Fronteirland, we headed to Adventureland to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and Magic Carpets of Aladdin (for kids, but fun), and had fun climbing around the Swiss Family Treehouse. We left Fronteirland and went to Fantasyland, the "Disneyest" place of the park, in my opinion, and the one that made me feel the most like a kid since I was surrounded by them! :p It was actually also where we found the longest lines, for tWinnie the Pooh, Snow White's Scary Adventures, and Peter Pan's Flight, but thanks to FastPass we still never had to wait in line longer than 25 minutes.

We took a break from rides in the middle of the day to grab a bite for lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe, which had the best fixins bar for burgers that I had seen, even stocking fried onions and mushrooms, and melted cheese for fries. After lunch, we went to Liberty Square, which was fun as well, and we both enjoyed the Hall of Presidents show. We stopped to watch the Share a Dream Come True Parade in the afternoon, and I loved it! You get to see all the characters in these giant snowglobes, riding down Main Street, U.S.A. Although was really hot sitting out on the side of the street, I didn't mind.

After the parade, we had plenty of time to hit the remaining rides we wanted to see, and even to ride some of our favorites (Big Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain) for a second time, again with very little waiting in line. After the park closed at 6:00, we went back to the hotel to drop off our things, then back to Epcot for dinner at Marrakesh. It was a lot of fun watching the belly dancer, especially when she recruited diners to join her, and I was just glad she didn't try to get me to go up there! I ordered the "Night at Casablanca" platter, and for my first time tasting Moroccan food, I was very impressed.

We then watched the second showing of the Tapestry of Dreams Parade, which was thankfully not cancelled. The puppets, I guess you could call them, were so amazing, and I don't know how the people were able to carry them around for so long as well as making them move the way they did. Watching the parade was like being in some exotic foreign country, maybe in Africa, and joining in a celebration. It was wonderful, and I'm glad we caught it that day. After the parade, we went back to the hotel and shortly thereafter, went to bed.

To be continued...

[mickey]

Steph, welcome home. Whew! I'm tired already!

[Dana]

Steph what a great report. You decriptions are so well written I feel like I am there with you. I have to go read the rest. Thanks for sharing.

[Scanlonsgirl]

Great REPORT Steph!!

Sounds like you have had a great time so far! I'm glad to hear that you got your upgrade at the Resort!!!

[Donna B]

Great report, very good detail. I am glad to see you had a great time.