[disney&byudad]

I joined MB (DC at the time) in February, obviously way AFTER our last trip to WDW in November of 2005. So, I have never done a Trip Report. I have read some AWESOME TR's from so many of you since I've been on MB and am planning to write one for our upcoming visit to WDW in November. However, I'm a little intimidated by the high standards set by the MB TRs. Therefore, I thought I'd try to do a summary TR of a couple of our prior trips (with pics) to see if I can get the hang of this. Thus, a Trip Report tutorial for me!

Let's start with our November, 2003 trip. Cast as follows:

Me - Chris
DW - Lynnae
DD2 - Leslie (a CM at DLR)
DD2's roommate - Sara (also a CM at DLR)

Dana, if this gets too boring, just move me to a "test" forum.

[Dana]

There is no such thing as a boring trip report and there are absolutely no stanards for writing one...a few rules yes. I would love to hear about your past trip...please do tell us everything. There is no reason to be intimidated at all.

[disney&byudad]

A little background: In May of 2003, my DS got married. Well, on the DAY of the wedding, Leslie broke up with her fiance and was in tears, off and on, throughout the day (her mom and I were actually ecstatic). A day or two later, she came over and said that since she had been saving money for a wedding that was now off, we should all go to WDW. The timing was perfect.
Lynnae teaches a 3rd/4th grade combined Special Education class at a year-round elementary school and gets November as one of her "off track" months.

Although, we have been to DL many, many times, we had never been to WDW as a family (I had gone for one day nearly 30 years ago, and Leslie and her DLR friends had been 5-6 times). So, Leslie was appointed "tour director" and made all the reservations: flight, rooms, PS (now ADRs).

Lynnae hates to fly out of LAX and the only request she made was to fly out of John Wayne airport in Irvine. Although Leslie tried to talk her out of it, she was pretty determined. So, we booked Delta and flew out around 8:00 am on Friday, Nov. 6.

[Dana]

So far so good. You have a nice writing style. I look forward to hearing more.

[Erin]

You're off to a PERFECT start! I can't believe this happened so long ago - becuase your details are like it happened last week!

[disney&byudad]

When you fly out of John Wayne, you have to stop in Dallas and then fly on to Orlando. Well, we did not think this was a big deal when we made the reservation and the flight out was Ok, but our return was a HUGE adventure. Well, that comes later. For now, we arrived in Orlando around 3:40 in the afternoon, rode the little tram to the main terminal (this has now become the official kickoff of our WDW trips), got our luggage and hopped on board the Mears bus.

Leslie took this picture of Lynnae and I just before the bus left for CBR

[Dana]

Yeha pictures too! Love it! Keep em coming!! You and DW are adorable!

[disney&byudad]

Notice how peppy we both look at this point? Wait until I post the last picture we took, it's priceless.

We arrived at CBR, checked in, found our rooms, got our luggage then caught the bus for EPCOT and our reservation at Alfredo's. While eating, I kept hearing what seemed to be fireworks. Leslie informed me that was IllumiNations and that we would be back the next night to watch them. After dinner (I had the antipasta plate and ate the WHOLE thing myself), we wandered back to the bus stop and headed back to CBR.

I have to mention at this point that Lynnae and I totally embraced the Disney magic at WDW. The World is soooooo much larger than DLR and the experience is also way different, but it is wonderful! We loved the transportation system, the resort (especially the food court ), and all that the parks had to offer.

Anyway, that was Day 1. A long flight, a great introduction to the magic of WDW and a superb dinner at Alfredo's!

[disney&byudad]

Day 2 we spent at EPCOT. We rode Test Track, Mission:Space (well Leslie, Sara and I did - Lynnae hates rollercoasters), The Land boat ride, Spaceship Earth and the Energy ride thingy with Ellen and Bill Nye.

A little side story here. In July, Leslie, who is a lead on POTC at DLR, met a guy and his dad who were visiting from Florida while she was working the ride. Turns out this guy is a CM at WDW and asked her if they could ride in the front row of the boat. Leslie took care of them, made sure they got the front row in the boat and they had a blast! Well, when the ride was over, this guy thanks Leslie and gives her a hand full of back door passes for WDW!! I don't think we waited in one line for any ride that year!

After Future World, we spent the rest of the day wandering World Showcase, eating and shopping and eating and watching the live statues in Italy and eating and.....well, you get the idea! We also got a great spot to watch IlluniNations (next to the Rose & Crown) and loved it!

Some pics of day 2:

Me, Lynnae and Leslie (poor Sara had to take all these) at Test Track

[disney&byudad]

No, the wearing of red was not planned, just a coincidence!

Me and Les about to embark on Mission:Space

[disney&byudad]

Here's Leslie enjoying a pastry in France

[disney&byudad]

This is my favorite picture of the whole trip

[disney&byudad]

Day 3 we spent at MK! We loved it. Again, being so familiar with Disneyland, the Magic Kingdom is so much different, although it has many of the "same" attractions.

Here is Leslie showing us her feelings about POTC in WDW (remember she was a lead on POTC at DL)

[disney&byudad]

However, we still rode it and although it is shorter with fewer scenes than POTC at Disneyland, I still enjoyed it.

Here is the "spitting" camel! I think this is one of the coolest things at MK and we had a blast just watching the reactions of people. The girl turning around just got spritzed. I can't tell you what she said.

[disney&byudad]

This is one of my all-time favorite Disney attractions. I was a CM at Disneyland while I was going to college when CoP was operating there. I've always missed it since they took it out and was excited to see it at WDW.

I think we rode this two or three times in a row, because, after all "There's a great big beautiful tomorrow just a dream away!"