[wdwspider]

OK, There were two adults and one 2-year old on this trip. It was our first plane trip ever and we went exclusively to WDW for 4 nights, 5 days with the Silver Wish Package. To begin with, I am extremly well organized when it comes to planning longer trips, however with this trip being such short notice, having fewer days, and being very specific about what we wanted to see and do... there were many more bumps along the way this time. Never the less, we had a great vacation and got to see all the top priorities on our list.

Day 1

Being the "Maximize my time" type of guy I am I can safely say I overplanned this day even when I felt I had allowed extra time. To begin with, since our flight did not leave til 1:30 I foolishly thought I could go a half day to work that morning. Well, never having been to an airport before or knowing the typical procedures, this decision can be marked as mistake #1. We were frantically moving from one area to the next getting to the boarding area just as our flight number was being called.

The actual plane trip took 70 minutes which was incredible. We got to Orlando Airport and found our luggage no sweat. Things were looking good, it was 3:00 and we had a Fantasmic Brown Derby Package PS for 6:10, no problem, right? Well, next was Mears...

I had reserved a shuttle online thinking I was going to save myself some time. Well, it may very well have, but I had my arrival date as the 12th. The Mears people were surprisingly fine with that and said it was no problem to correct, but... the Airport Security went off and locked all credit card, online, and other transactions of this type off, so my reservation could not be brought up on screen. Finally, the cashier recieved word to just write up a new pre-paid boarding pass for me and be done with it. This was all ok, albeit time consuming, until we were sitting at the Mears loading area and I noticed they had us down for All-Stars Music and not Movies. After a long wait, we were finally on our way at 4:15! We had to stop at three more airport loading docks, the Gaylord Palms, and the Music and Sports before getting to Movies at 5:30!!

We checked in and I was happy to just be there and be getting the Dalmations area I had requested so many times prior to arrival only to find out we were in Love Bug. They made some calls, but nothing could be done and they said the request was not in their systems... Arrggh. No Major Concern I guess but the Love Bug is very far from the Check in area. We got in our room at 6:00. I called trying to change our Brown Derby time, but you could not do so, and if you are a no show you are charged, so off to MGM catching a bus around 6:20. We finally arrived at Brown Derby at 6:40.

This is the Happy Ending of the Day... the food at the Brown Derby was simply amazing. We both had the Lump Crabcake for a starter (it is amazing!), my wife got a Roasted Chicken Half and I got the sesame Tuna. Again... amazing, this is like gourmet dining. For Desert my wife had a Vanilla Creme Bruele and I had the Grapefruit Cake... once again amazing. We used wishes to pay for the $110 meal.

We went to the Fantasmic Entrance, got fantastic seats in my opinion and had a truly magical experience.

Day 2

We started the morning early with a Surprise Morning at MK. We did all of Fantasyland, plus Buzz Lightyear before eating with Pooh and the Gang at the Crystal Palace. The food was great but the Character time is horrible. We did a Pooh Breakfast when it was at Tony's Town Square and we enjoyed that much much better. After eating we headed to Animal Kingdom to catch some of the attractions we have yet to experience.

At Animal Kingdom it was incredibly hot as usual. We started with the Safari and since it was feeding time we saw more animals then ever before. Also, since Standby time was only 15 minutes we got to see the movie clips in the line (we normally fastpass this attraction). Next we had an experience with Ivy De Vine, if that's her name, we then headed to Tarzan Rocks! - very entertaining. Finally it was Festival of the Lion King which is always great. We then scouted a spot for the Jammin Jungle Parade. A quite enjoyable Parade but hardly worth spending all that time in the heat to view it again. The Lack of Air Conditioned attractions at Animal Kingdom is a huge draw back to the park.

We went to Rainforest after AK and used another Wish to splurge out at this unusual dining experience. We were suppose to go to Downtow Disney, but the Heat took so much out of us we decided to go bak to the room first. Everyone fell asleep and did not wake back up til the next morning.

Day 3

We had done everything we wanted to at MGM on our last trip, except Fantasmic. The ToT 4 was something I didn't want to miss and was originally going to do between Brown Derby and Fantasmic til our time crunch occured, so we went back to the park on Friday morning just for a quick ToT ride before going to EPCOT.

Boy, what a cool surprise when we exited the Bus and heard Star Wars playing all over the place. We got to the gates early and were treated to a neat Star Wars Weekend pre-show with Storm Troopers, Bubba Fett, Wise-cracks, and Sound Effects all over the place.

While every one else headed for the Star Wars stuff, we snuck to the ToT. This is where I heard my first Crazy Guest Qoute. A son asks "Is this the Tower of Terror 4?", the father replys "No son, this is the Original Tower of Terror." Anyway, I have heard about seat belt cars for a while but did not realize the insecurity they deliver until experiencing it first hand. The new effects were awesome and the seat belts force you to free fall with nothing to grab. It was a great experience, I only wish I could have rode more times to experience other options.

We left the park early and decided to hit Downtown Disney before EPCOT. Here comes the biggest complaint I have at Disney now. THEY NEED DOWNTOWN DISNEY BUS STOPS AT THE PARKS. Being the smart and knowledgeable Disney person I am I recommend we take the Ticket and Transportion Bus to catch a ride to DD. Well, there is no bus from there either we find out, so we are off to Wilderness Lodge. The freaky bugs at WL are pretty bad this time of year. We finally make it to DD to buy souvenirs for relatives and friends. Again my brillance shows when I suggest we have it delivered to our hotel thinking I can prevent the Chocolate and Fudge from melting during our visit to EPCOT. Well, the cashier is nice and gets me to fill the forms out and just as we are heading out the door runs us down with a bag of our chocolate and fudge saying they cannot ship these items. D'oh, we now have to make a trip to our hotel to store the Meltable items before going to EPCOT and essentially making it pointless that we shipped the other items.

All that taken care of we enter EPCOT and have a wonderful evening. We ate at Teppanyaki in Japan and splurged with a Wish again. I got Shrimp, Scallops, and Lobster. The food is very tasty, but I was expecting more show than my local Japanese Steak House since it was Disney, but this was not the case. We got an onion Volcano and that was it.

Had special viewing for Illuminations, but we have seen it twice now and everyone was very tired, especially Nick, so we went back to the Hotel.

Day 4

We hopped a monorail to Polynesian and Kona Cafe to try the famous Tonga Toast we have heard so much about. My wife ordered that and I got the Calabash Breakfast which was unique and good as well.

This was Magic Kingdom Day. We spent the morning hours in Adventureland and Frontierland. Rode everything relatively quick. I had the best Jungle Cruise Experience ever with Danger Bob as Skipper.

We went back to the room during Midday to get in the pool and let my Wife rest a bit from something that was bothering her and to take some Pepto.

We returned in the afternoon and did Tomorrowland and Liberty Square. By now our Liberty Tree Reservations were nearing and my wife was looking very white. I suggested we leave and forget about the rest of the night and the PS arrangement. She felt bad cause she wanted to see Spectro and Fantasy in the Sky. I told her it was no big deal cause we have seen them and we could use some rest.

Turns out I made a good decision on heading back. My wife got very ill and spent most the night in the Bathroom.

Day 5

Our Mears shuttle was not to arrive til 2:30, so despite my wife being sick, we had to go somewhere and we now had several wishes we had been unable to use, so back to EPCOT to get my son and myself on a Tile (part of our package), use the rest of our wishes, and just have somewhere to be until time to leave.

The lady at the Tile area at EPCOT had to be the snappiest Cast Member I have ever ran across. Maybe she knew the proceedures like the back of her hand, but we surely didn't. Anyway, we got our shot and then went to Image Works for a Picture package using a wish. We then ate at the Garden Grill (well I did, Wendy could not). This was a terrific Character Meal, you see the characters a lot here with much interaction.

We arrived for the Mears Shuttle in good time and the return home went great.

Observations:

- The Wishes are not recommended, although you can greatly get your money's worth, if something happens like getting sick or change in plans it gets increasing harder and harder to find ways to use your wishes and still get your money's worth. We ended up getting a Picture package, a Mickey Collectible time Piece, a Mickey Photo Frame Box, and a Wilderness Lodge Lincoln Logs set because of unused wishes that we had all planned to be used for food. We did come out ahead on wishes by $1, when you factor our discount in we were ahead $76 at least, so you can gain by using Wishes carefully.

- Do not use Mears if you like to schedule and plan ahead. People warned me, I should have listened. They can be friendly, but not always.

- Journey into Imagination with Figment isn't that bad. I'm starting to like it more each trip.

- Spaceship Earth is very bumpy now and unfortunately I now feel it needs to go.

- Timekeeper and CoP are listed on Park Maps despite the fact that they are closed.

- May crowds were extremly low

- Tom Sawyer Island is a surprisingly well kept secret - I liked it.

- ABC Commissary is dull

- Refillable Resort Mugs now state they are for current trip use only

Firsts:

Kona Cafe, Tonga Toast, Fantasmic, Brown Derby, Tarzan Rocks, Jammin Jungle Parade, Teppanyaki, Tom Sawyer Island, and Aladdin's Magic Carpets.

Crazy overheard Guest comments:

"Droopy is one of the seven dwarfs"

"WDW is bigger than Maryland but not bigger than any major cities"

"Animal Kingdom is Great! They have the Jurassic Park Dinosaur Adventure ride."

Crazy overheard Bus Driver Comment:

"Expedition Everest will have a 260 ft drop"

[dab]

WDW Fan that sounded like a whirlwind of a trip! Glad you were able to make it to Brown Derby for you Fantasmic Dinner! So sorry to hear your wife got sick! I hope it wasn't the Tonga toast! :nooo: My DH will be so jealous when I tell him about the Star Wars music & stuff at the Studios! He is dying to go to that some day! Each WDW trip is a learning experience. That's why you have to keep planning trips... to acheive the perfect trip one day!! Glad you're back!

[wdwspider]

Well, despite the things that stood out, we had a wonderful trip. I tried to post things that can help others learn and be better prepared themself. All the times in between when we were riding, watching, and doing were great. It just seems easier to post about the problems or stand-out moments. :p

[dab]

I could tell you had a good trip! I can relate to the over planning aspect. It is very hard to be the one planning sometimes because your expectations are so high and you don't want a minute of time to be wasted. Plus, there is the pressure of planning that perfect trip the whole family will love. Thanks for sharing all your ups and downs. It really does help to hear each person's experiences! Now, time to start planning that next trip even if you don't know when that will be!

[wdwspider]

Originally posted by dab
I could tell you had a good trip! I can relate to the over planning aspect. It is very hard to be the one planning sometimes because your expectations are so high and you don't want a minute of time to be wasted. Plus, there is the pressure of planning that perfect trip the whole family will love. Thanks for sharing all your ups and downs. It really does help to hear each person's experiences! Now, time to start planning that next trip even if you don't know when that will be!

Actually... :D

September 2005 to DISNEYLAND!

The Plane trip this time was a testing ground so we could get familiar with the headaches of planning Air Travel. After going through the routine, it will be so simple the next time, so we gained alot of insight. We wanted to fly somewhere familiar before attempting to go across country for the first time.

[tinkerbell]

I was totally engrossed your trip report and I have to tell you I laughed out loud at the crazy comments over heard!! what a wonderful thing to add to your trip report. You also re-enforced our reason for driving from texas to WDW .. flying is just not any fun at all! but I could have swore that the busses ran from Ticket and Transportation too. Actually if you were at TTA you could have walked over to the poly and taken a bus from there to DTD though.

thank you for a wonderful trip report!

[neen626]

Sounds like you had a good trip, despite DW getting sick.
I hope it didn't ruin her trip too badly.
You gave alot of good insight into your trip.
Thank you for all the good information :)

[trishb]

Great trip report! Clear and Concise!

You didn't mention much about your son....how did he do on such a busy trip? My 2 year old revolts if he does not get plenty of 'down time'. Did you spend time at the pool?

[tiggerlover1971]

wdw fan aka spidey you already know that I told you what a great trip report but I will tell you again it is a great trip report

[wdwspider]

Originally posted by trishb
Great trip report! Clear and Concise!

You didn't mention much about your son....how did he do on such a busy trip? My 2 year old revolts if he does not get plenty of 'down time'. Did you spend time at the pool?

Yes, I said in another site that I learned a valuable lesson about allowing Nap Time in the day. Still, he is a great little champ, he is always smiling and happy and rarely upset. I posted several pics of him, but that is not a good option here at Central. When I upload to my Sears Album I will post a link so everyone can see what fun we had. Honestly the entire trip was planned with him in mind, from All-Stars to the most time at Magic Kingdom, it was a trip for him to have some fun. He was happy with every decision we made except the 45 minutes we sat in the heat waiting for the Jammin jungle Parade, he didn't understand that too much.

I do have a good question now that you mentioned it, we did stumble into the baby Care Center at the Magic Kingdom next to the Crystal Palace. I was curious, they list several items like Diapers, Food, and all kinds of other baby supplies. Are these items available to use, or for sell?

[tinkerbell]

the baby Care Center at the Magic Kingdom next to the Crystal Palace. I was curious, they list several items like Diapers, Food, and all kinds of other baby supplies. Are these items available to use, or for sell?

its been years since we used them but the items are for sale .. now they do have things like rockers and highchairs playpens and cribs to use .. or they did have way back 13 years ago anyway when we used the baby care centers.

it was nice to take the baby in and rock or feed her

[BuzzLightyear]

Thanks for posting your report!! Very helpful!!

[mattomouseman]

Originally posted by WDWFan
[b]
Being the "Maximize my time" type of guy I am I can safely say I overplanned this day even when I felt I had allowed extra time. To begin with, since our flight did not leave til 1:30 I foolishly thought I could go a half day to work that morning. Well, never having been to an airport before or knowing the typical procedures, this decision can be marked as mistake #1. We were frantically moving from one area to the next getting to the boarding area just as our flight number was being called.

"

Hey WHY in the world would you want to go to work on the day your leaving for WDW?:dazed

As far as the airport, and obviously you now know, depending on where you live you need to get there between one and two hours prior to the flight. When we fly out of JFK, NYC's largest and busiest airport, you have to get there at least two hours prior. LaGuardia, which we usually fly out of for our WDW trips is closer and a little smaller but you still gotta get there early because you never know what the lines are gonna be like!

Sounds like you had a great a trip (Except of course for your poor DW getting sick!) I'm sold on not using Mears anymore. I never would have thought of using a car services if not for these boards!

We're off to DL in Feb. Can't wait. We're just waiting for Mickey to let us know when the codes come out for next year and I'll be planning that trip!!!!!!!!!

[mickaholic4077]

Great report,WDWFan. Just one thing,though. The signs may say mug is good for length of stay only,but I still use the mug I got in 2000. There is just no way to police that kind of thing in All-Star food courts,because the drink island is outside the area where you pay.

[wdwspider]

Originally posted by mickaholic4077
Great report,WDWFan. Just one thing,though. The signs may say mug is good for length of stay only,but I still use the mug I got in 2000. There is just no way to police that kind of thing in All-Star food courts,because the drink island is outside the area where you pay.

See, I wonder about that cause the old mugs were good for anytime anyway and I did notice they use Pink stickers on the new mugs now (I'm guessing they write the dates the mug is good for on these). Since I didn't buy a mug this trip I can not fully elaborate on the new procedures or policies, maybe someone else who has been recently can fill us in more. Again, we were told with our old Wilderness Lodge and AK Lodge Mugs that we can bring them back on future trips, now they tell you otherwise with the new mugs.