[brebre_51]

My parents took me to Disneyland on my 12th birthday. I have loved Disney ever since. I am a grandmother.... 9 times over. We just had our first great grandson. DH & I are not spring chickens but, we ARE young at heart.

Disney World is much bigger & better then Disneyland. I have been going to Disney World since the mid 1970's. We have been staying at the Disney Resorts inside Disney World since about 2001. It is so much easier then having to fight the traffic. Once you park your vehicle, you don't have to drive again until you are ready to leave for home. Another good thing is that you can pay for your tickets, room & dining plan on a payment plan. You just have to have it paid off a month before you go. We have stayed at the Caribbean Resort, Pop Century Resort & All Star Movie Resort. So far the Caribbean is my favorite.

Our Trip-Sept. 2007

*We left Thursday morning on our whirlwind Disney World vacation. The eight of us arrived at the All Star Movie Resort around 2 PM. DH, myself, DD (Gem) & her son, DD (Babs), her DH, her DS & her DD. Our room was located on the third floor in the Fantasia building which was located right beside the pool & near the food court. After unloading our luggage, we head out for the food court.

It was time for lunch! We were on the free dining plan. All of our counter lunches & dine-in suppers were FREE! Plus, we each got a FREE snack per day. All we had to buy was our breakfasts, extra drinks and/or extra snacks IF we wanted them. We didn't spend much on food or drinks at all.

After lunch, Gem, grandson, DH & I went resort hopping. We went to the Ft. Wilderness Campground by ferryboat, The Polynesian by monorail where we had some refreshments, The Grand Floridian & The Wilderness Lodge by ferryboat.

The Grand Floridian was amazing. $215.00 PER NIGHT! A grand stairway like the one at Tara Plantation in Gone With the Wind. An inside glass & mirrored elevator. A giant birdcage. Fine furniture. Some of the resort personal dressed in early 1910 clothing. Others were dressed in formal business clothing. A grand piano adorned the lobby. But, what really stood out for me was this, on the second floor there was a live orchestra (not a band) playing for the resort guests in the lobby below. I was like !!! The people staying there that we saw was dressed just like us. Nothing fancy...no frills. Plain ole people paying $215.00 per night!! I was thinking... and WHY?

It was time to eat supper. Our reservation was at 8:10 PM at the Wispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge Resort. The food was good but the noise was ear splitting. It is geared for children. If you ask for catsup, they make this big fuss & every bottle of catsup, from off each table, ends up on your table! The waiters have to bounce their wooden trays down hard on the -wooden(?)- floor all the way back to the kitchen. What a racket! If you ask for a refill too many times, they will bring you this GIGANTIC glass of whatever you are drinking excluding alchoholic beverages. DH got a headache. We will not be eating there again.

On the free dining plan, each person gets an appetizer, entree', dessert & drink. Way too much food for one person. Our waiter kept trying to take away DH's salad. DH finally had to say..."LEAVE MY SALAD ALONE!" Anyway, DH ordered the salad, St. Louis Ribs, cinnamon tortilla w/vanilla ice cream & tea. I got the chicken wings, NY strip steak (med rare, please), Kahlua flavored chocolate cake & tea. We didn't get out of there 'til after 9 PM. We head back to our resort. We didn't get to bed til after 11 PM.

The reason that we went resort hopping is because we have a new camper and wanted to see what Ft. Wilderness is like. If all goes well, DH & I plan on going back in January.

Friday, we were all up at 6 AM. I am going to give Babs & her family a wake up call. I call their room. She answers. I hear a sleepy 'Hello'.

"Good morning, this is your wake up call!" I say cheerfully. All the while, DH is in the background making loud, strange noises in a strange voice like he was Goofy. You know...like this... "Hello, rise & shine, yuck, yuck, yuck, uh-huh, uh-huh! Get up! Get up!"

The sleepy voice spoke up again. "Who is this? I think you have the wrong room." Clunk, went the receiver. I had dialed the wrong room!! My family just LOL & LOL at DH & ME!

We ate breakfast at 7 AM. Then, we were off to the Animal Kingdom. We all liked the 'It's Tough to be a Bug' show in 3D. We LOL! Our favorite ride was Kali River Rapids. It wasn't IF you get wet but more like YOU WILL GET WET! lol We rode that last. We ended up getting soaked! But, that was OK since the temp was in the 90's. It was really hot! We ate lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ (outdoor) Restaurant. It was good, too. We headed back to our resort to change into some dry clothes.

I walked down to the lobby where I bought some things. I got a Mickey Mouse beach towel, a picture frame, WDW T-Shirt, a rain poncho, Disney Crocs w/Mickey Mouse holes & an antenna topper. Oh, I bought 2 WDW refillable travel cups, too, in the restaurant. I have a Disney Visa which accumulates Disney Reward Points. I used my points to buy half of these things. I like saving money. The more I save, the more I can spend on what I like. Cha-Ching!

Our supper reservation was at 4:50 on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom at Tony's Town Square. DH got the salad, NY strip steak, dessert & tea. I got the calamari, NY strip steak, amaretta cheesecake & tea. Yummmm.

They were having Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween party that night at 7 PM. Because of that, after supper, we split. HOWEVER, so did half-a-million other people. We sat on a bench at the bus stop & watched as people pushed, growled & complained loudly to one another while babies & children either slept, pouted or cried at the Happiest Place on Earth. After a while, we finally boarded the bus TO EPCOT.

Warning---- We did NOT enjoy Nemo & Friends. MAYBE IF you have very small children it would be ok... just MAYBE. It was tooooo LOUD! My legs & feet were aching. The only redeeming thing about it was that we got to sit down & ride.

We were tired. The wind was blowing up a storm. It was getting late. Epcot was having Extra Magical hours but we decided to go back to our room before the storm hit as did half-a-million other people. We made it to our room right before the storm broke. The wind blew. Lightening flashed repeatedly. The sounds of thunder boomed all around us. It rained, rained & then, rained some more. We bathed & hit the bed. I didn't hear another thing until 6 AM the next morning.

In the morning, Babs told us that they had to end up cancelling Mickey's Not-so-Scary-Halloween Party. The kids did get a little candy. All of them came back soaking wet. There is a silver lining. They got a free pass to the Magic Kingdom good for one day. It's good up to a year. Nice, huh.

Saturday, up by 6 AM, breakfast at 7 AM. Off to Epcot again. A Disney VIP person stops us inside Epcot & says something like, 'You WANT to go see the 'Journey into Imagination', DON'T YOU!!' Ok, so that IS weird.... right? But, we did as he directed & head to 'Journey into Imagination'. We are met at the door by another Disney VIP person who says, 'Congratulations! You are a winner in Disney's Year of a Million Dreams!' He hands each of us a Lanyard (a fancy silver ribbon that hangs around your neck). Each Lanyard has the castle embroided on it & the words.... 'Year of a Million Dreams'-'Where my dream came true'. Plus, it has two metal pins sporting Disney characters & the above said words. They told us that they were one of a kind ribbons that could not be bought. How about that. I still would have preferred to have won a Disney vacation for a year.

In Epcot, we did Soarin', Test Track, Ellen's Energy Adventure (I am the only one who liked that but then I have always liked science) & Journey into Imagination w/Figment.

Time for lunch, we ate at The Lands. Off to MGM.

In MGM, we saw the Indiana Jones Show, the Muppet 3-D Show & the Little Mermaid show. Now, we are haulin' buggy to my favorite park...The Magic Kingdom & my two favorite rides!

We have an hour before supper so we rush to Pirates of the Caribbean. I just love Jack Sparrow! They did a really good job redoing this ride. It is worth seeing.

Next, we are off to the Haunted Mansion. We come to a screeching halt as the line is too L~O~N~G~~~~. We better go eat before we ride this one. We find a seat in Liberty Square & wait for 20 minutes.

Our reservation is at 6:50 PM. We wait inside. We eat supper at the Liberty Tree Tavern. It is a character meal. Goofy , Chip & Dale, Pluto , Mickey & Minnie Mouse are there visiting all the tables. Everyone gets the same food. Salad; rolls; roasted turkey, ham, & beef; mashed taters; green beans; dressing; mac & cheese; gravy & tea. Oh, and hot cherry cobbler w/vanilla ice cream.

It is after 8 PM. We have to hurry to the Haunted Mansion. The park closes at 9 PM. The line goes down fast. We get on our doom buggy. They have revamped this ride, also. It is really nice. When it is over, we hurry back to Liberty Square. We watch the rest of the parade. Our party leaves while DH & I stay behind. The fireworks are at 9 PM. The spectacular fireworks are over, but we are in no rush to leave. We mosey here & there; sit a spell & take a few pictures. The crowd is thinning out finally. We decide to go to our bus stop.

Our bus stop is still crowded but not as much as it was last night. We are tired. One bus comes. People load. It leaves. Then another comes. It loads. We are NOT near the front. The bus driver yells, "I CAN TAKE 2 MORE". Like a shot, DH bellows back, "HERE!!!" He quickly drags me under the ropes, pushing his way through people & onto the bus where a young man gives up his seat for me. ***I noticed most people were very considerate UNLESS they were waiting in line a long time to return to their resort.***

We get back to our resort. I don my bathing suit near midnight. I am going swimming!

"SAY WHAT???" DH says.

"I told you I was going into that pool before we leave WDW!" I reply.

I make a sleepy, pajama clad, 30 something, Gem go with me. I actually get her out of bed. We arrive downstairs at the pool. She sits on a chair & holds my towel while I slowly descend the steps into the nice warm pool. I wade up to my neck. Awe.... this is cozy. I turn around, climb back up the steps & exit the pool. Grabbing my towel I throw it around me. I say to my daughter, "Done. Let's go." Her eyes bug out as she says, "WHAT!!!" Then she went on a tirade of how I got her out of bed, she had to put her bra back on, how tired she was & all for 2 minutes in the pool because I HAD TO GO SWIMMING!! All I did was LOL as we walked back to our rooms.

I bathe & hit the sheets. We sleep in the next morning. We get ready, check out, find our vehicle, load up & head for home. DH commented that he was 'going back to the happiest place on earth.' lol I just love that man!

It will take us a week to rest up & get back to near normal.

[lovemysons]

WEll this has got to win the award for the most concise and compact trip report ever!

$215 a night at the Grand Floridian??!!

I am sooo jealous! But good for you!!

[tinkerbelle24]

I LOVE this TR!! You have #1 made it super dooper easy for me to read with the big print and you are soooooo funny in the way you put everything! I would love to go to WDW with you anytime!!

[emamasa]

sounds like a nice trip - hope you get to go back in january with the camper!!

[Daisee]

Nice TR.. short.. but very sweet!!

[allirella]

Sounds like fun! Glad you had a good time and got a dream to go with it. Hope we get a TR after the camping trip to FW...

[babets]

You should try going w/ her to WDW. She is like a kid....a funny kid. Nice TR bre....

[brebre_51]

Awe, the memories!