[disneyguy]

OK My TR's are kind of what is running through my mind. While I was there I would think of something I would want to say in this, but have forgotten it by now. So here it goes.

Cast: Me, Simon(Our exchange student), and My Mom/Meg

Day 1:

Hallo! Bienvendido! So we arrive at the airport about 3-4 hours early. I am not even really sure why we did, but hey the Philly airport has lots of space to roam. Of course it was a US Airways flight, so it HAD to be delayed. That’s right folks! 1 hour later, we board the flight and are off to see the Mouse. We arrive at the airport, and after a quick phone call we located the wonderful Quicksilver driver, who was very friendly, and was really great. It took at least 25 minutes for them to get the bags to the baggage carousel, of course, and we began worrying that we would not make our 9:10 PS at Chef Mickey’s.

OK time for a quick refresher….. You might remember I posted my plans like fifty billion times, and had it all planned to the tee. Guess what happened to those…. Right out the window!! Well pretty much…. I’ll explain as we go along.

So we head away from MCO and to Publix. In and out in 15 minutes. The quickest shopping trip EVER. We are off to POFQ. We jump out, Luggage Services comes over grabs the bags and groceries, and we head in and check in. No lines…. And they had us checked in within 5 minutes, so much quicker than at PC last year. Off to the Contemporary and Chef Mickey’s!! We arrive, and head in and it took about 20-25 minutes for them to seat us, which was the longest of any of our PS’s. Food was better, than I remember it to be, and the character interaction was good minus Goofy who just was not acting like your typical Goofy which kind of scared me. We took the Resort Monorail back around to MK, and we learn that at this bus stop POFQ and POR are separated. YAY!!!!!!! It is the small things…. We waited all of 2 seconds and that Disney Magic brought a bus to us, and we learned that MK was actually the closest park. We get back to the resort, buy tickets and are in bed by midnight. BTW: Mickey couldn’t accommodate our room request, of Building 4, and got put in Building 7(the furthest out building). Although, nothing at POFQ is far at all, so it we perfectly fine, but it would have been a bit nicer if the bus stop was closer when we were coming home from the long days at the park.

Day 2:
MGM!!!!! HEHEHE… Mom and Simon are not morning people at all and I secretly set an alarm for 6:45AM. HAHAHA. I think we got to MGM at 8:15, it was EMH morning, after the short bus ride over. We head straight for RnR, and stop only for FP’s to RnR. Minimal waits, RnR was like 10 min, and when we got off we had 10 minutes before our FP’s to ToT. We crammed in The Great Movie Ride, and then we went and did the Backlot Tour. I have heard a lot of negative stuff about this, but I thought it was great. Maybe I thought this because they pulled Simon and I in as “extras”, and we were swabbing the deck. It was quite interesting because they basically threw us out there and told us to look scared. After the Backlot, we took a look at the total revitalization of the Backlot. Did you guys know that the whole area back there is being redone and is really looking AWESOME!? It is all part of the new Stunt Show, which looks really cool. On the Backlot tour we got to see where they have been doing some of the practicing/testing. We took tons of pictures, back there and then headed for 50’s Primetime.
50’s Primetime ended up being our favorite restaurant of the entire trip. Our server was AWESOME!!!! He cracked jokes, kept our elbows off the table, and made sure Mom would be proud of us. He also kept trying to hook Simon and I up with dates with two girls that walked in. Part of the reason that this was so great was because, while Simon was spending an extended time in the bathroom, our server ran out in the hall and proceeded to scream at the top of his lungs, “Simon, Did you fall in.” The entire restaurant turned, and started. It was truly a magical beginning to the trip, and to top it all off the food was excellent. I had the chicken sandwich, and they add some sort of sause that is delish, and the PB&J milkshake was not on the menu, but they still made it for me and was awesome.

OK so did I mention the park was PACKED by this time. The sun had come out and it was sweltering hot outside. We got FP’s for Indiana Jones, and while we waited we just walked around and browsed. We did the Stunt Show, and then practically sprinted over to Who Wants to be a Millionaire? They have replaced the host, and it isn’t nearly as good as it used to be. The newness in the host really showed, when she gave away one of the answers, she just wasn’t very good, and made me glad when we left. We headed back to POFQ for a swim. OK, when I booked POFQ I truly thought it had more than one pool, but nope. We head back and the POFQ pool is PACKED with kids, so Simon and I head for the POR quiet pool. Some of our friends ended up being there so it was really a great time.

Simon and I went back to the room, and got ready. We ate dinner at the POFQ food court. OK time for my commentary: The POFQ food court is the weak point of the entire resort. We got there, and the place was empty. I ordered 2 cheeseburgers for us, and waited for about 5-8 minutes for them. Then when I finally got them they didn’t have cheese. They had to add cheese to them. There began a line of people behind me getting upset because I was standing in front of the window. It was all a big pain. Then I bought a souvenir mug, and went to fill it but the soda machine didn’t have ice and there was soda all over the place. Luckily the other soda machine had ice, and we ate, and then went back to MGM for Fantasmic! It took longer than we expected to get there and we got there at 8:15 for the 8:30 show. It all worked out because they formed a line in front of the theatre, and didn’t start letting people in until 8:30. They didn’t even fully fill the theater so it all worked out.

That night MK was open until I thought midnight, so we decided to head over to MK. This started the bad part of all the day. So we go to the bus stop for the TTC, and like 2 busses for every other stop come, but whatever. One pulls up and begins to load a handicap person. There appears to be a problem, well there sure was but no one ever learned what it was. To sum it all up it took 20 minutes to get the handicap person loaded. So we are off for the TTC. We get there and get on what is labeled as the Express Monorail for the MK. The line gets really long, and they start cramming people on. They get us all crammed in, and close the doors. We sit, and we sit, and we sit. We can see CM’s talking to the crowds out there, but nothing is told to us. After sitting there the monorail begins moving at about ¼ the normal speed, and then we come to a complete stop at the Polynesian. I realize, we are on the Resort Monorail. UGGGHHH!!!! Finally, we make it to MK. I tell a CM briefly that it took 1 hour and 45 minutes to get from MGM to MK. He told me to write a letter to Al Weiss, and I informed him that I sure plan on it. I was upset that they only wanted to give excuses, and not apologize. By this time, we have missed our friends and decide to go on Space Mountain. The sign said 40 minute wait, it only ended up being 30. We headed for Splash and BTMRR, and when we get there it was exactly 11PM. Guess what!? The park closed at 11, not midnight like I thought. I was fuming, because we saw the last people walk onto Splash. We headed back to POFQ and we were all asleep by midnight. Tomorrow is Epcot!!!

[disneyguy]

BTW: There is a link to my pictures in my signature.

[Dopey]

Howdy disneyguy, I've been wondrin' about your trip. Good to have you back. Now I am going to read your report

[Cavey]

Sorry it wasn't what you'd hope on day 1, but it sounds good for the most part.

[Erin]

Excellent, so far! I've been looking forward to this TR for a very long time :c)

I can't wait to hear Epcot!

[boucher0911]

Can't wait for the rest.....

[CathysCAT]

From the pictures, looks like you had a great trip. Glad to hear good news about 50's Prime Time. We're going to have lunch there on our trip in April. Thanks for sharing all the photo memories. What kind of camera? How do you get your pictures on that site? Is it for anyone? Can't wait to hear more.

[Cavey]

What is up with your 100th picture!!!

[DisneyTeacher]

Great report so far, I can't wait to read the rest!

[disneyguy]

Thanks for all the great comments. Yes, the first day was AWESOME. We all agreed the first day was the best, despite the trouble at the end.

50's Primetime was AWESOME!!! We will go back every trip, I can sense it. The server was awesome, and so was the food. I can still taste that PB&J milkshake.

The camera is a Cannon Powershot A85, and it did awesome except at night, but I think that was operator error.

The picture.... that was Simon's creation.

[Disneyfever]

Great trip report so far! I loved all the pictures you took!!

[Erin]

I liked all except that last one! That girl might not like her legs being posted on the internet!

[Disneyfever]

Well, we know disneyguy had more than Disney on his mind!!

[chiasgirl]

Sounds like you had a pretty good first day and I am really enjoying the details in your report - keep it up!
It must have been nice having Simon with you too - how great that you guys could give him this opportunity!

[lovemysons]

Oh joy! Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to reading the rest.