[Grumpy]

OK, I will try and do this. As you know from my other posts I am have severe post Disney depression right now.

9/23/06 Day One - We are flying out of Wichita, KS late afternoon. Get to the airport and discovered our flight had been delayed by over an hour because of some huge weather system that went across the southern part of the country. I knew before we left that our Dallas to Orlando flight was delayed so I wasn't too worried. This was also my first time flying and I was scared to death. So we sat and awaited for our plane to arrive (just what I needed to get those nerves going even more). We finally made it to Dallas and then to Orlando. We were supposed to arrive at 10:00 PM but instead it was more like midnight.

We headed to the baggage claim and found our great Quicksilver driver and waited for our luggage. My Dh's luggage never showed up. Thank goodness for our driver since this was my first time flying I had no clue what to do. Got all the paperwork filled out and off we went (with now a very grump DH).

We were supposed to have a grocery store stop but it was so late and we were so tired we told the driver to skip it (big mistake we would discover later). We arrived at POP at around 1:30 AM I believe. On the positive there were no lines to check in! The lady we got a check in though was terrible. She was so slow and then she went to the back and we just stood there not knowing what was going on for at least 15 minutes. She finally came back and I asked if there was a problem....she said she had messed something up. They ended up upgrading us to a preferred room in building one of the 50's section. The problem though was that she couldn't get any of our park tickets or our dining plan loaded on our cards until morning.

We finally went to our room and the location was great. I think the room number was 1122. Really close to the lobby. The rooms are really small but we didn't mind it. It is just DH and I. The problem though is that we got a handicap room. I hope we never get one of those again. I really missed the bathtub all week and with how the shower is the entire floor got soaked everytime I took a shower. We had towel animals though when we arrived so that was exciting. OK to back at the top when I said it was a mistake that we decided to skip the grocery store stop.....we shortly discovered that my DH didn't have any deoderant and our toothpaste was in his suitcase also. Since we got in so late Everything POP was already closed. I think finally by 3:00 AM we hit the bed.

I will add day two later.....

[Dana]

It sounds like a bit of a rough start. I hope the magic starts soon in your report. Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

[Erin]

Oh, boy. Not a good start! It must of got better, though - because your title says it was wonderful!

I look forward to reading the rest of your report, Grumpy!!

[Jen]

wow ~ a not-so-magical start to your vacation...hope things got better on day two!!

[PhilliesFan]

What a beginning! I hope your trip improved.

[daisyd]

I am so happy you are typing this out and sharing it with us! Keep it coming

[Grumpy]

9/24/06 - Day Two

Well after our rough start we were determine to get up and enjoy the day. My DH could not sleep and he got up around 5:30 and went and explored POP. Took pictures of lots of stuff while he was out. Me on the other hand had no problem sleeping until that Stitch wake up call came (which I love by the way). I called the airline when I got up and the message said that they had located his luggage and it would be delivered to the resort within 6 hours. DH after walking around the resort discovered the arcade and so that is where I met him once I was ready to head to the parks. I went the front desk and they were able to get all our park tickets and the dining plan added to some knew cards. So we were off to Epcot by 8:00.

The first thing we did when we got to Epcot was ride Spaceship Earth and then we headed over to Soarin. Soarin is really neat. We had a problem getting out of future world for some reason. Kept trying to head over to World Showcase but we always ended up finding something else to do. We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella and it was good. I had the chicken strips combo with chocolate chip cookies and DH had the burger combo with cheesecake (all free of course since we are on the free dining plan special ..... I won't repeat that again so just remember all food I mention from now on in the trip report was free!!!!). After we ate we noticed on our receipt that we were already short 2 counter service meals. Figured it was because of them not adding the dining plan to our room key until 9/24 and we should be credited for 9/23 also since we paid for that night. So we went to guest services and they were able to get everything taken care of for us. We rode all the rides in Future World before we headed to World Showcase. Love Turtle Talk! We chickened out and did the non-spinning side of Mission Space since I get motion sickness really easily. We did not have to wait for anything more than 5 minutes so that was really great.

Finally we made it over to World Showcase by mid afternoon. Started on the Canada side and worked our way around. We kind of hurried through it because we had a ADR at 5:00 for San Angel Inn. Mostly I was running around trying to get pressed pennies from all the countries. We knew we would be coming back a second day so we were not too concerned about missing stuff at this time.

We arrived at San Angel Inn at 5:00 and were seated immediately. Wow, it is dark in there just like everyone says. We were ready for a nice long break in the cool restaurant. I was kind of worried about this place because of some of the reviews I had read but we were very pleased. Our server was great and we never felt rushed like I have heard others say who were on the dining plan. Our meal was wonderful and I will be going back for future trips.

After dinner we went and did a lot of shopping at Mouse Gears. Love that store. I bought a ton of stuff and had it all shipped home. We then went and staked out a spot for Illuminations.

After going on 4 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours for me and 3 for my DH we were about ready to drop after a full day at Epcot. We headed to the busses to go back to the resort. The bus service was great. Yes, we did have to stand about half the time but we didn't mind. Figured we all paid for the service so if you were lucky enough to sit on the bus then great if not it wasn't that long of a trip if you had to stand. Heard a lot of people complaining about standing but our thought is if you have an issue with that then you should have rented a car! We never had to wait for more than 10 minutes for a bus to show up.

When we returned to the resort we were glad to find out that DH's luggage had arrived. It was damaged but everything was still there. Off to bed we went for hopefully a much longer night sleep!

Stay tuned for day 3.....

[bransworld]

Sounds like it got much better after the first evening. Can't wait to read more.

[Jen]

awesome ~ day too sounded much better!!

Pictures???

[jenbarnwell]

day two sounds much better than day one! Hope we get to see some pictures!

[Grumpy]

9/25/06 - Day 3

Dh was able to sleep in a little later today (6:30 I believe) so he started his new routine of getting ready and then heading out to go to the arcade to play the Pirates pinball machine until I came down to get him.

We were on the bus to MK by 8:00. Got to see the opening ceremonies which was really neat. We started off by having breakfast at the bakery on Main Street. Just had a couple of rolls but it was enough to hold us until lunch.

MK was the same way as far as lines. I think the longest we waited for anything the entire week was 20 minutes. We ate lunch at Casey's. It was good but probably won't be a regular place to stop on future trips. Boy were those hotdogs big though.

We tried to really take advantage of the photopass. We ended up with only 97 pictures by the end of the trip. I was hoping for more. Maybe by the time we get to go back they will have more people set up to take the pictures. I really like the idea of them adding the ride photos to it also. Right now the only one is Test Track in Epcot.

We scoped out a seat for the 3:00 PM parade at about 1:30 I believe. We were right on the curb in the shade on Main Street. It was a long time to sit there and I probably won't worry about doing that the next time but I had never seen the parades before so I wanted a good spot. On future trips as long as we can stand and get a clear view so we can take pictures and video I will be happy with that. Just felt like we wasted so much of the day sitting on the curb (also did it for Spectromagic).

I think this was the hottest day that we were there....or at least the most humid. After the parade we hit some more rides before our ADR at 5:00 at The Liberty Tree Tavern. We arrived there about 4:45 and only had to wait about 5 minutes to be seated. Very loud place! The food was really good and Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale were all there to come say Hi to us. They only came to our table once but that was enough for us to get our pictures taken with them. They were paying more attention to the little kids then the two of us which is understandable. Our server wasn't the friendliest there but she got the job done.

After we ate we hit some more rides and then got a spot to sit and wait for Spectromagic. I had never seen this parade before and it was OK but I was not as thrilled about it as I thought I would be. It may because I was video taping it and did not have my full attention on it also. Need to watch our videos sometime still to see how they turned out. After the parade of course was Wishes. What a wonderful show. I had to buy the CD of the music before we left. This is a must see for anyone. I had tears in my eyes it was so great.

After the fireworks we slowly made our way back to the front of the park and to the buses. Again the bus service was great and we did not have to wait very long.

Next....day 4

[Dopey]

I am glad you enjoyed the transportation. I feel the same way about standing or sitting on a bus like you do. I can see where folks with small children would like to have a seat, but for us with two big boys, it was never a problem. I don't believe that we got a seat even once on a bus there. The trips aren't very long either.
Glad to hear that you were having a good time.
Will you be posting any photos for us?

[Maria]

Glad to hear things were better from day one! That is good too that they found your Dh luggage. Looking forward to day four

[twist1980]

Thats wonderful that you never had to wait longer than 20 minutes for any ride, sounds like you went at the perfect time! I'm glad things went so smoothly after your rough first night!

[tinkerbelle24]

Happy to see that things turned put.. Cant wait to hear the rest!!