[ingamba]

Ok, so the title exaggerates a little. But this was probably my best trip to WDW yet, and I've had a bunch.

What follows is a pretty detailed and possibly boring TR, read at your own risk.

[WishUponAStar]

Welcome home Ingamba! I can't wait to hear all the magical details!!! How exciting!

[Erin]

Oh, you're back!??!

[ingamba]

Arrival Day-Saturday January 21.

"A Bumpy Start that Smoothed Out Quickly"

My alarm went off at 330am. My flight left Providence, RI at 700am, and you know how early you need to get to the airport. I was supposed to get a ride to the airport by a not very trustworthy, yet lovable co-worker named Vinnie, who was supposed to arrive at my house at 5.

Danielle and Jack showed up at my house at 445am. 5 o'clock rolls around, still no Vinnie. I called his house at 515 and woke him up. I thanked him for nothing and got in the car and drove to the airport ourselves.

After an uneventful flight we arrived at MCO at a little after noon. DME went pretty smoothly. Not much of a line to get on the bus. Pocahontas was playing on the bus, and CSR was the second stop after POP.

Once at CSR there was a little disapointment in store for us. We had requested Cabana 9B, and while I knew this wasn't guaranteed, I still hoped it'd be honored. To make a long story short, we ended up in Casitas 3. This didn't turn out to be a bad thing at all, but at the time it was disapointing.

The machine that cuts the keys at check-in was not working, to add to the inconvenience. I explained that we were hungry after eating a whole miniature bag of peanuts on the flight, and we wanted to eat lunch, but were on the dining plan, so we needed our passes. The CM called the manager over who told us that if we wanted to eat at the Pepper Market, just bring the receipt back and we will get reimbursed. So it was off to the Pepper Market for lunch, a lunch that would've cost us $41.50 if we didn't have the dining plan. I found the Pepper Market and Maya Grill to be just adequate, I defintely wouldn't recommend anyone to make a special trip to CSR just for the dining.

Anyway, after lunch, we got reimbursed and our room was ready in Casitas 3. Things started to fall into place at this point. We unpacked a little and headed to the bus stop for Epcot. It's kind of a tradition for me to do Epcot on arrival day. The first thing we needed to do was Soarin'. A word about my history with Soarin'. I was at WDW last May the week it opened. And I never got to ride it. It was just too long of a wait. FP's were gone so early and the wait was never under 2 hours. So it has been kind a quest to get on the thing. Well being January, that quest was completed successfully. We must've ridden it 6 times in two days. It truly is amazing. And Wish, you're right about getting in the top row. Anyone who rides Soarin', my advice is to request row 1. It's magical no matter what, but row 1 is amazing.

After Soarin' we paid a quck visit to see Figment, than into Club Cool for my ritual Beverly tasting. The new Character Connection closes at 5 so that would have to wait.

At this point we started heading to the WS. On the walkway between Future World and WS, I saw a couple of familiar faces. I did a double take than a triple take. I was confident I knew who it was from the pictures, so I went and introduced myself. I was right, it was our very own Chastmaster and Quakercub. We spent a little time together. We were happy to meet each other, they were my first DCers that I had ever met in person. We'd end up spending more time together later in the week as you'll read later in this endless TR.

At WS we headed left which is against my usual habit. I tend to go towards Canada first but headed towards Mexico this time. We stopped at Norway to ride Maelstrom and than headed in a clockwise direction from country to country. I stopped at Italy as always and chatted with the CM's there. They are always happy to talk to guests in their native language.

We were pretty hungry at this point, so it was off to the CS at Morocco, Tangierine Cafe. Andrea's favorite didn't disappoint. The Shwarma platter combo, chicken and lamb was delicious.

Fatigue had really set in now, so it was back to Future World to exit Epcot and grab the next bus back to CSR.

[ingamba]

Not bad at all...

[Erin]

This is fun to read, Ingamba. You're a great writer :c)

[ingamba]

Myself with the two Davids

[ingamba]

Maelstrom is still one of my favorite WDW attractions.

[WishUponAStar]

Awww, I LOVE trip reports with photos attached!! And I am so glad you got to meet the "Davids", How awesome!!

wow, you are going to be up all night. haha!

[Erin]

ROFL! No you didn't put that hat on Jack!!! Hahaha!! That is FABULOUS!

[Princess Tessa]

you're baaaaack!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!
I miss ya here

I love your TR so far, why aren't you up writing more all night!

Thats so great you met David(s) and I agree wit hSoarin' I ALWAYS wait for the top and center, the others are nice but top middle AMAZING.

Waiting for more...............

[ingamba]

Sunday January 22nd

"Accidental Commandoes"

The plan today was to do MK in the morning and then again in the evening for EMH, with a break in the afternoon. That was the plan.

Danielle was slow getting up and ready, so Jack and I took the opportunity to walk around and explore CSR. We walked all the way around Lago Dorado paying special attention to the Dig Site. When we got back to the room, Danielle was ready, so we all went to the Pepper Market for breakfast. There was an Asian family at the table next to us, and Jack pointed to the little boy and said to us, "look, there's a little boy that looks like me." It was the first time that he ever made reference to the fact that he looked a certain way, and he noticed others who look the same.

After a very adequate breakfast, we boarded the bus for MK. After meeting some characters in Town Square, we spent some time on Main St USA, and then again we went against tradition. We headed towards Tomorrowland which is against my usual trend of going towards Adventureland first.

Jack really wanted to ride Astro Orbiter, so we did that first, with no waiting. The CM running it had some CM exclusive lanyard pins, so I traded for 2 of them. BTW, on this trip, I truly fell in love with pin trading. It gets in your blood and soon becomes an obsession. At least it did for me, anyway. I find myself looking for limitied edition pins to buy, and CM lanyard pins to trade for.

After Astro Orbiter, we did the baby swap for Space Mountain, which wasn't even necassary because the wait was less than 10 minutes. We pretty much took care of all of Tomorrowland in a couple of hours, only splitting up once when I went on Stitch's Great Escape by myself. Personally I liked it better when it was Alien Encounter.

A word about Carousel of Progress. The last scene needs to be updated, or a new one needs to be added. That scene is from the late 1990's and here we are in a new century. It looks dated now. But I love the attraction, it was one of Walt's pet projects. And the song is catchy, but I still miss the old one.

After TTA, Danielle took Jack on the Indy Speedway, while I went to Fantasyland to take some pictures. I ended up having a long converstion with a CM at IASW about it's recent renovation, and I took some pics of it's new indoor facade.

The three of us met back up and rode IASW. Than we ate lunch at Pinocchio's Village Haus (the antipasto is pretty good). I love the tables that have a view of the IASW loading area.

Jack was debating whether or not he was brave enough to go on HM. He loves the song that we play him on the official CD, but he was too scared to go on it last year. At this point though, he got his courage up and wanted to go on and ended up loving it. Knowing the song helped him I think. It ended up being one of his favorite attractions in all of WDW.

We then went to BTMRR to get FP then headed to Country Bear Jamboree. The show was so classic, as always, and it kind of bothered me to hear people bad mouthing it on the way out. Sure, it isn't the most thrilling attraction, but it's so Disney and so classic. I guess it's a Disney thing and we understand and many others don't.

Next it was off to Adventureland for some Dole Whip and than back to Frontierland, because our FP for BTMRR time had arrived. We grabbed FP for Splash and than rode BTMRR. We made sure to ride Splash, not only because it's one of our favorites, but also because it was slated to close the next day for refurbishment.

After riding the two Mountains we watched the Share a Dream Come True parade right there in Frontierland.

By this point, we should've been at least starting to head back for our mid day break, but it wasn't happening. We were accidental commandoes. But really it was no accident. We were conquering the MK that day, and there was no stopping us.

After the parade we rode POTC and than headed to Main St USA for some shopping. On a side note, I spent way too much money on Disney stuff on this trip. But I don't regret a single purchase.

It was getting close to our ADR at the Plaza Restaurant. We headed over there and had a decent meal. It's a sit down, but with very simple fare. We paid cash for the meal so as not to use up 3 sit downs on the dining plan.

After dinner it was back to Adventureland for some nighttime Jungle Criuising and Magic Carpetting. It was EMH at MK so we had already gotten our wristbands. A late night ride on BTMRR would follow and then some Fantasyland nighttime riding: Mad Tea Party, Peter Pan's flight and Snow White's Scary Adventures. We watched Wishes from Liberty Square and than headed back through Fantasyland, then Tomorrowland before spending some more time on Main St USA before exiting the park weary yet encahnted by our magical day at the Magic Kingdom.

[Erin]

I bet you were so tired!!!!!! What a great day, though! I can't wait for the pictures!

[ingamba]

Waiting for the MK bus at CSR bus stop number 1

[ingamba]

It was a beautiful day in every way.