[palmickey]

Wednesday October 19, 2005

With very little sleep we leave for the airport at 4:45AM, we have a 6:00am flight to Atlanta and then on to Orlando. We arrive in Atlanta a little early(went through a time change, the flight was a little over an hour and a half). Atlanta was very easy to maneuver through. We had enough time to grab a cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich and get to the next plane. We arrived in Orlando at noon.

We made our way to the Magical Express.....the line was very l o n g. I thought well I am sure that it looks worse than it is. I was wrong. Only one family member was allowed in the line and everyone else went to chairs to have a seat. I thought to myself we will never make it to the park, HOWEVER the line moved very quickly. They told us that this was the busy time of the day and normally it is not nearly that crowded. Soon we were on our way to a bus and off to WDW. As we entered through the gates we looked at each other with tears in my eyes and said "WE'RE HOME"!

We checked in, our room was not ready but by the time they finished the paperwork and checked again it was ready so we were able to take our carry-on's to the room - All Star Movies. We stopped at the gift shop and grabbed an autograph book and headed for the MAGIC KINGDOM.

The castle was beautiful all decked out in gold. It just brings tears to your eyes, or mine anyway to be walking down Main Street. You just want to pinch yourself and say am I really here? YEP! I AM! We had decided that we were going to go the Adventureland and Frontierland first as we had missed them the last trip! So off we go!

We started off at the Swiss Family Treehouse, then on to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin followed by Jungle Cruise. By this time we realize we haven't eaten all day but at the airport so we find our way to Pecos Bill Cafe to split a burger and fries. The topping bar there was wonderful. I loved all those grilled onions. We head for the Pirates of the Caribbean next.

Now, I don't ride rides - never have. I rode a few small things last year and lived so I think - this looks OK a nice boat ride. Until the boat started going UPPPPP in the dark and I knew that it was going to have to come down! lol After it was over I was just fine and feeling a little brave!

Now keep in mind that after each ride we are also checking out all the gift shops and doing some shopping, looking around at everything. As we walk I spot Peter Pan and no line so we stopped in for a picture and autograph. He was so nice and spent some time talking with us. Then we went over to The Enchanted Tiki Room Under New Management. A very cute show.

Now we see none other than Aladdin. He was just awesome, there were very short to no lines so he takes some time to chat with us too! We decided to go back up to Main Street and look at some of the shops and as we walk around we find Baloo and King Louie too!

We decided it had been a long day and we were ready to go back to the hotel, unpack get a bite to eat and get some rest. Oh yes, and to see just where WILMA was.

Tomorrow - Typhoon Lagoon!

[lovemysons]

Oh I just love it when we find Baloo and King Louie! I was wondering when you were going to post your report!!! Sounds great so far. Next installment please!

[BDavis932]

We arrived the day after you and we stayed at All Stars Movies, too! Which part of All Stars were you in? We stayed in Toy Story, room 910

[gingita]

Great report so far! And ditto to Lovemysons...next installment please!

[Dopey]

Great, great, ready for more. Sounds like the crowds were not too bad, no lines by the characters.
Are there photos?
And how come you don't ride rides? I don't like roller coasters, but Disney rides don't really scare, or do they?
I sure hope that you rode Splash Mountain....

[palmickey]

Originally Posted by BDavis932

We arrived the day after you and we stayed at All Stars Movies, too! Which part of All Stars were you in? We stayed in Toy Story, room 910

We were in Fantasia 5762.

Originally Posted by Dopey

Great, great, ready for more. Sounds like the crowds were not too bad, no lines by the characters.
Are there photos?
And how come you don't ride rides? I don't like roller coasters, but Disney rides don't really scare, or do they?
I sure hope that you rode Splash Mountain....

Very briefly, Mother is in a wheelchair since she was 13, Father is an acoholic. We never left our home town, never did anything. The few times that I can remember going to a traveling fair at the grocery store my mother was so scared of us riding that we became scared. Same way with water, I dont swim and being the youngest I got kept back from everything even when the older two would get to do something. So it is instilled fear I guess.

But at fourty something - I am learning to ride as my trip report will show. But I did find one ride I will not do again AND I can not do virital reality or spin really fast . My OWN TEA CUP PLEASE!

[palmickey]

Thursday October 20, 2005

We got up and turned on the TV again. Looks like Wilma is taking her time moving this way and that was just fine with me. So we are off to Typhoon Lagoon and very excited as we are going to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party that night.

We arrive and get a locker to put our things in. We headed right for the Typhoon Lagoon Surf Pool. What a blast! We loved it. Of course I started out at the ankles and worked my way into the waves. As the water would approach I would watch it and just as it got to me I would attempt to run with it. That was fine when you are in ankle deep water.

I would go in a little deeper and deeper. Finally one of the waves knocked me down. I went in deeper again. We were having so much fun and laughing so much. Then...I got knocked down again, in deeper water. We were laughing so much that I managed to turn and was sitting in the water when the wave came back; it has to go back right? SO DID I. I just kept bouncing backwards deeper and deeper into the water with the wave and was laughing so hard I could not get up. I guess you had to be there but it was scary and hilarious at the same time. And of course I had no help except the laughter I heard as I got farther and farther away.

We walked around the park took a few pictures and just relaxed. We got in the Castaway Creek and floated around the park. It was so relaxing. We went to Singapore Sal's and did some shopping.

We decided to go to Downtown Disney and eat at the Earl Of Sandwich and walk around a little. Then went back to the hotel to get ready for MNSSHP!

We had dinner reservations at the Liberty Tree Tavern at 5:40. The food was excellent. Of course Minnie was there, Chip and Dale, Goofy and Pluto. We were all in Frontierland and Adventureland while they cleared the park and got ready for trick or treating.

I don't know what came over me but I got on the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and we were in the very last seat. I was holding on for dear life, a couple of times I came up off of the seat. WOW! I got off thinking - I can not believe I just did that .

Time to Trick or Treat, we stopped at the spot right there in Frontierland next to Big Thunder. Then made our way through the Adventure Friends Treat Trek and stopped at the one in Liberty Square.

Then we made our way back up to Main Street and purchased the 2005 MNSSHP t-shirts. You can only get these during the event, same way with the MNSSHP pins, and that was a long line to get them. But we waited in line. Everyone was starting to line up for the first parade so we headed over to Toontown and did some trick or treating and then made our way through Alice & Mad Hatters Treat Party that came out at Tomorrowland.

We went up to the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station (which was closed for the night) and got a front row table and chairs and perfect viewing for the Happy HalloWishes fireworks. What a show, and the music.....WOW! After the fireworks we went right down to the center circle in front of the castle and got front row seats for the parade.

Another great Disney parade! As the parade went by they were passing out even more candy! After the parade we got to talk with and take pictures with Meeko and Genie & Abu. We were going through Frontierland again and just looked inside a building, it was Woody and he was all by himself, so we went in and talked with him. Walked around and rode the Haunted Mansion.

Then we went back to the castle for the last Villains show of the night. That was awesome. After the show they come down for a Villains Mix & Mingle. We got to see Cruella Devil, Jafar, Maleficent and Captain Hook. They did not stay out very long after the shows. We were a little disappointed as we were the only ones in line to get our picture taken with Frollo when they told them it would be just 2 more minutes and he just turned and walked away from us, right then - and we were the only ones there to see him.

The costumes of the guests were great. We saw a lot of families of Incredibles and families of pirates. There were princesses everywhere and a few fairy godmothers watching over them. One family of the Wizard of OZ. We saw the most adorable little baby dressed in the smallest tinkerbell outfit I ever saw. Most guests were in costumes of some sort and if not - they had on halloween shirts.

It was a GREAT DAY!

[Dopey]

So glad you rode BThunder. It isn't on my "must-do" list but everyone has to do it just once.
Did you dress up for MNSSHP?

[Baloo85]

I am glad your were able to hit the jc...hehe...congrats! woo hoo from baloo!

[Maria]

Really enjoying your TR!!!! That is great you were able to ride some rides and go to the water park do somethings that you never thought you would do

[palmickey]

Originally Posted by Dopey

So glad you rode BThunder. It isn't on my "must-do" list but everyone has to do it just once.
Did you dress up for MNSSHP?

We had halloween t-shirts made at Zazzle.com Disney Ink Shop before we left. They had Mickey, Donald and Goofy dressed for halloween on them and we had "Magical Memories" put under the picture.

(As you will see soon we go back for a 2nd party and we wear our new 2005 MNSSHP t-shirts we got on the first night.)

[palmickey]

Friday October 21, 2005

Again we get up to check the weather channel. Wilma is still heading our way but we still have time. She isn't expected until Monday or so. We go out for an early bus - we are having breakfast with the princesses at EPCOT!

Not that we are old pro's now (one trip under out belt) but it was nice to be out for an early breakfast bus and be able to help families find the correct breakfast bus. We arrive at Epcot early and take a nice stroll back to Norway taking a few pictures along the way.

We get in and they are taking pictures with Princess Aurora before they seat you. We sit down and they bring our breakfast. The next princess we got to talk with was Belle, always so sweet. Next we saw Princess Jasmine followed by Snow White and Mulan. Breakfast was very good, always plenty to eat.

We leave breakfast and head back up to the front of the park. We saw a line of guests moving towards The Land and decide we better head for "Soarin". It appeared that everyone else had the same idea but, we never stopped moving and it went really quickly and we were on the ride.

Two women in front of us walked up with the rest of their group and at the last minute they said goodbye and went to leave. Everyone in line convinced them to stay and ride. Now here I am again, don't know why I am doing this but up we go. Oh my, I LOVED it. You feel the wind, smell the trees, feel the water; we were picking up our feet as we went over the trees.

We left there and went over to Living With The Land and walked right on the ride. Another first that was very interesting. And from there we went to Journey Into Imagination With Figment. Now I love Figment too! He is so cute. We then had so much fun making goofy pictures and sending them back home to our e-mail and a few family members.

And then it is just amazing how Disney places those cute little gift shops around. After some more shopping... we went over to Figments Place and got pictures with Figment. No lines again! This was just unbelievable. Next it was off to Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We stopped by Test Track and there was a long wait and we weren't really sure about this ride.

Now, after doing Soarin, I am feeling kind of brave - here is my mistake. I am convinced that Mission Space was no different than Soarin and I said OK. NEVER - NEVER - AGAIN!!!!!!!!

As the four of us get in it is very obvious that I am not sure I really want to do this. The two other women that get in with us tell me that "It will be OK". YEAH RIGHT! All I think of waiting is - don't move your head and don't close your eyes.

We take off and OH MY GOD! All I can hear is "talk to me - are you ok? Talk to me - your fine". The other two guests are saying "This is the worst part; the worst part is almost over". And all I could process in my mind was - I'M GONNA DIE !

I am not sure how but I did manage to push my two buttons but when we hit Mars I was praying that we did not have to fly this thing back to earth ! I was so weak in the knees, feeling dizzy and sick to my stomach. I was holding on as we walked out of that ride. It was 5 minutes before I even spoke. I did not feel well the rest of the day! NEVER AGAIN! Now we are just taking the rest of the day easy. It was time to go to World Showcase. No more rides.

We have the dining plan and the Food & Wine Festival was using your snacks at the booths so we decide to try a few. First we stopped at Ireland and split a Potato Leek Soup with an Irish Cheddar Crisp. It was wonderful soup!

Then we stopped at Mexico and split a Quesadillas con Pollo y Chorizo (Chicken Quesadilla) and a glass of Conga. Conga was a mixture of orange, pineapple and lime juices. Both were very good.

Next we tried China. We tried a Chicken Sha Cha. We had also walked past Puerto Rico, Chile and Scandinavia but nothing there appealed to us. Out of very little that we got to try I would go back to Mexico and Ireland both! Very Good! Of course we are looking in the shops and enjoying the afternoon but wait to sample anymore as we had dinner reservations at LeCellier. We also had another day planned at EPCOT.

Just as we arrived at Le Cellier the sky started turning dark and it began to rain, and I left the ponchos in the room. Lucky we were having dinner, it rained almost the entire time we were at dinner.

We started with the breadsticks; I think the pretzel breadstick was my favorite. For appetizers we had the Grilled Beef Tenderloin Kabob and the Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup, both very good.

For dinner we had the 14oz. New York Strip Steak with Roasted Garlic, Grape Tomato, Frisee, Roasted Yukon Potatoes and finished with Veal Demi-glace, we added a Lobster Tail. And a 7oz. Filet Mignon glazed with Maple Barbeque Sauce served with Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes. All was very good except the lobster tail; we will skip that one the next time.

By the time we were done with dinner it had stopped raining. We walked around and shopped a little and then found a spot for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth. We found a nice spot and got some popcorn and pop and sat down to watch the crowds while we waited.

We got to talking to a very nice young man that is a CM there doing his internship. He was very sweet and was telling us all about being at Disney and how much fun he was having. It made the time go quickly and he was very entertaining. He shared some info with us and we, with him. We watched IllumiNations and headed back to the hotel for the night.

[missy H]

Sounds like you had a great time! You are very brave going on MS, you wouldn't get me on there!

Great Report!

[palmickey]

Saturday October 22, 2005

We spent the morning walking around our hotel looking at the other buildings. We are going to Disney Quest and it doesn't open until 11:30. When we get there the first thing we did was Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride. I am going through this thing as slow as possible and still have to take off my helmet from time to time. I just can not do virtual reality, and not quickly at all. Don't want to do that again.

Next we try the virtual Jungle Cruise. This one was different - no helmets. You get into a raft and you have an oar with wheels on the bottom that you use to paddle while you are bouncing around in this raft. The screen in front of you is where you are going. Well we were bouncing around so much that we got to laughing so hard and we were no good at river rafting. We went over every fall, ran into everything in the water, all we could do was bounce around in this raft and laugh.

Then we did the Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold. I took the wheel so I could control the speed of the ship. It was fine until the end and I got to moving it a little to fast but it was fun.

Then we went to the arcade, pac-man and skee-ball - best part of the Quest. We stopped at Invasion and asked what it was like. We were told that it was just walking around. We did it but I was now done for the day, feeling light-headed and a little ill. We did go to the Cheesecake Factory. Wow - was that good. I had a few little bites and took the rest with us.

So we are at Downtown Disney and what to do now. SHOP! Our favorite pastime. Later we stopped at Ghirardelli for some Ice Cream! Then back to the hotel to rest before dinner.

We take a bus to the Magic Kingdom and get on the monorail (another first) and head over to the Grand Floridian. What a beautiful resort. We walked around for a little bit and then on to 1900 Park Fare.

Fairy Godmother was taking pictures with guests while we waited for our tables to become available. We got to see Perla and Suzy, Cinderella and Prince Charming. The food was ok. We are real plain food type of people, never ate anything to fancy so we got to try some new things. Some were nice and some - well... we have been trying a lot of new things. We rode the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom and took the bus back home.

Disney Quest was something we wanted to see and try, and now we can cross that off of our list. Don't know that we would ever go back...except for the cheesecake.

[daisyd]

I'm just loving this report! Your excitement is so much fun