[BDavis932]

Hello guys, Here is my trip report!

Saturday, May 24th, we left our home around 9:00 am (myself, hubby, DS (age 7), DD (age 3), my Mom and my Dad) & arrived in Fort Walton Beach, FL around 9:30 pm. We stayed the night at The Hampton Inn & left at 9:00 am Sunday (5/25) morning, heading to Disney’s Wilderness Lodge Villas. The rest of our group wanted to go to the beach before they headed to Disney World, so they left around noon. This includes my sister, her hubby, and their 9 year old twins, my sister’s friends and their 2 children, and my brother-in-laws parents and their 13 year old grandchild.

We arrived in Orlando around 5:00 pm and decided to go to the grocery store to pick up some supplies for the week. We choose Wal-Mart near Celebration (which was a very BAD CHOICE!! This is the #1 retail location of Wal-Mart in the country!) We pulled out of the parking lot around 6:45 pm. UGH! That place was a MAD HOUSE! Next time we’ll go to Publix.

About 7:30 pm we arrived at Wilderness Lodge. This place is a must see for everyone, and I cannot begin to describe the beauty, inside and out. Check in was a breeze, no wait what-so-ever!! We have always unloaded our own vehicle, but this time we were told that bell services MUST do it for us. They said it was for insurance purposes, but I personally believe that it has something to do with security. My brother in laws parents got the same story at All Stars Sports, but my sister and her friends did not.

My hubby moved the van, the kids and I were already in our studio. We were in the villas in room 2550. It was a very quite and beautiful room! My parents were in room 4531. They had a great view of the pool, and were very close to the elevators. We both loved our rooms. We used our points to give them a trip that they would never do on their own, to celebrate their 41st wedding anniversary. Another great reason we love DVC. We would never been able to do something like that for my parents, and we were so happy that they could share the Disney magic with us!

My hubby came to the room about 9:15 and said he had fallen and his arm was really hurting. We went to the front desk to report the accident, and see where he could seek treatment and all the minor emergencies had closed just an hour before the fall. They sent us to Celebration Health, which was a beautiful facility, and the people were just awesome. We weren’t seen until 2:30 am, though. Luckily, my Mom and Dad stayed with the kids. We arrived back to our room around 3:45 am. Needless to say, we slept in late on Monday morning. Here begins our Eight days in the parks:

[BDavis932]

Day #1) Magic Kingdom -- Memorial Day – May 26th – My Brother in law’s birthday:

We woke up around 9:00 and unpacked, loaded the stroller, ate breakfast in the room, and we all got ready to go. We left the room around 10:45 and arrived at the Magic Kingdom via the water launch around 11:30. While we were waiting at the dock, we saw 2 rescue boats and realized that a water “mouse” had turned over, and the emergency teams were getting the people on to the rescue boat. That was a little scary. I had thought about renting one of those, but that definitely changed my mind until both kids can swim like fish!

After arriving at the MK, our first ride was Splash Mountain, then Pirates of the Carribean. Splash Mountain was a twenty minute wait, and that was the longest wait of the day. PoC had no wait at all. After that we ate at Pecos Bills, and ran in to the rest of our gang (with the exception of my parents). We ate with them, and after lunch, they had Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain. My parents had called us on the two way radios and said they were at PoC, so we rode that again, and then did the Jungle cruise, Aladdin’s flying carpets, The Country Bears, saw the afternoon Parade, and by then my hubby was feeling the pain, so he decided to go to the room and take a nap. He would catch up with us at supper. That afternoon was very productive. We did almost every ride in the MK by 6:30, and then we headed over to O’hana (7:00 PS) for my brother in laws birthday supper. It was a fantastic dinner, I ate way too much shrimp, but it was sooooooooo good!!! My hubby didn’t get to have his annual “pinapple drink” since he was on pain medicine, but he enjoyed the meal, too. He left to go back to the room around 8:30, and we left around 9:30. We took a monorail to the Contemporary, and then RAN (and I mean RAN!) to the boat dock and caught the last boat of the evening heading back to the WL. I then took the kids swimming until midnight and got back to the room and hit the sack!

Day 2) EPCoT, May 27th , Tuesday

We got up late, again, and got to EPCoT around 11:00. We headed straight for Journey into your Imagination. We love this ride, and it was funny seeing my Parents expression through the ride, especially when we received “one free scent!!” PeeWhew!! We then headed to The Land and went on the boat ride. It was great. After that we ate lunch at the Sunshine Season Food Court and then saw Food Rocks, and the Circle of Life show. After that we had a 2:50 with my sister and her family at the Ice Cream social. IT WAS WONDERFUL! I highly recommend it. VERY, VERY YUMMY and lots of one on one time with the characters.

After that we went on Test Track and Universe of Energy and then we headed over to Spaceship Earth. My Mom, myself and the kids at dinner at Japan, in the fast food area, and my Hubby and Dad went over to Germany and had dinner there. We then stayed for Illuminations, (which we very seldom ever do) and my DS didn’t really want to. We got the kids ice cream and right at 9:00, it started. HE LOVED it! He gave it a standing ovation!! This is the kid that is not easy to impress…I was so happy that we stayed for it, and that he enjoyed it so much! We caught a bus back to WL and DD was sleeping, so she stayed with DH and DS and I went to explore the resort, get a snack and play a mean game of checkers (he kicked my bootie, by the way!!!) We went to bed about 12:45.

Day 3) Disney-MGM studios, May 28th, Wednesday

Again, we got a late start. We got to MGM around 11:00 and headed straight for the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. Hubby and I had held off riding this ride since it opened so that we could both experience it with DS for the first time (he finally hit the 48” mark!!) Well, DH couldn’t ride it with the broken arm, but we met up with our group and we all rode it together (minus my DH, and a couple of motion sensitive people…)

This is my new favorite ride (ANYWHERE!) This ride is so great. DS loved it too! DD was not too thrilled about me going on all these rides without her. We were hoping she would reach the 40” mark, but even with the chunky sneakers we bought her, she was about a ½ inch too short. Her and Daddy shopped when I went on these big rides without her.

We did Playhouse Disney, Arial, ate a quick turkey leg, rode ToT, Star Tours, Backlot, etc. We had a Fantasmic Dinner package reservation at Hollywood and Vine at 5:00. I cannot believe I have never eaten at this place before, it was fabulous. They even gave us an extra ticket for the show, so we gave it to my parents, so they didn’t have to wait.
We did a few more rides, and then off to Fantasmic. It was more than Fantastic, better than anything I’ve ever seen before in my life. Everyone enjoyed the day. After that we went swimming, and DS played with all of his toys he bought from Star Tours. . We had a great day at MGM, but I really missed The Great Movie ride. Supposed to open June 8th. We just missed it. We went to bed around midnight. Tomorrow, we’ll get up early….(maybe!)

[BDavis932]

Day 4) Animal Kingdom, May 29th, Thursday

We had planned on getting up early, but it didn’t work out!! We made it to Animal Kingdom around 10:30. We rode several rides and saw Tarzan Rocks. DD got to ride her first “big ride” which was Kali River Rapids. She was so excited!! My Mom rode Kali with us, too. She cannot do the big rides, her back cannot take it. My Dad and I rode Primeval Whirl (I didn’t like this too much) and Dinosaur, while my Mom and Hubby kept DD busy in the Boneyard. DS went with my sister and her family for the afternoon, and we caught up with them later that evening at D’town Disney Marketplace. We saw some more shows (I loved Festival of the Lion King) and ate a very late lunch at PizzaFari. We ate a quick dinner at Roaring Fork at WL and then took the bus for D’town and hit the 2 big toy stores. All the money that the kids had worked so hard for was quickly gone! They were very happy with all their goodies, though. The bus driver on the way home was so funny, telling everyone that our DD was the co pilot and talking about her overhead. She loved it!! After swimming for a little while, we went to bed at a fairly decent hour tonight, and maybe, just maybe, we can get an early start in the morning.

Day 5) MGM/Magic Kingdom, May 30th, Friday

We started the day around 10:00 (well, at least it’s earlier than the other days! Lol!!) at MGM, we wanted to try to catch some of the Star Wars Weekend action, but that parkt of the park was Nuts…very very busy! My sister and her family managed to get all the characters pictures and autographs, but hubby and DS skipped it and caught up with me and DD at Muppet Vision. After lunch at Pizza Planet, we headed to MK, got a FPass for SM and rode Buzz Lightyear. Did Haunted Mansion, and Grand Prix, and spent the day riding some more rides. We hopped a boat back to WL and arrived 20 minutes late for our PS at Whispering Canyon. They got us right in, no problem. The food was delicious, and the kids both liked it, too!

The “group” came over around 8:30, toured the resort, and then we went swimming until 10:30.


Day 6) Animal Kingdom, Fort Wilderness, and MGM, May 31st, Saturday

We started the day late (yes, I know, big surprise!!) We got to Animal Kingdom around 11:30 and met my sister as they were going to Blizzard Beach. We did the safari, ate lunch at the Tusker House (it was good) we rode a few more rides, including Dinosaur, and wanted to do Kali, but it was a 55 minute wait!! We skipped it, and headed to Ft. Wilderness around 3:45. On the way out, we saw Chip, Dale, Liverlips, Turk, and Timon. Hardly any wait to visit with them. Liver lips was so silly with the kids and DD does not like him. He pretended to sit on top of her in the stroller and she kicked him in the rear end! I felt so bad for him! A few minutes after that, he tried to give her a kiss and she hollered “NO” at him…but he kept coming back for more….he finally got the message that she didn’t like him!! Chip and Dale played keep away with DS’s hat, he thought that was fun, and DD enjoyed getting everyone’s autograph.

We got to Ft. Wilderness at 4:25, and booked it to the pony rides. DD rode “Tonka” (which she called “spirit” (like the movie…) and she had a blast! Then we met my mom and dad at Trails End for a WONDERFUL dinner. We have always had the same waiter every-time we go there for years (BOB) but he was off that night! After that, the kids played outside on the playground and we went peacock spotting. Then Mom and Dad caught the bus to EPCoT to see Gary Puckett, and we hopped a bus to MGM to meet up with the rest of the group to ride a few more rides. We did Rockin Roller Coaster and ToT, and Star Tours. Around 8:00, the Park seemed very empty. I think everyone started lining up for Fantasmic. Less lines for me! Yahoo!


Day 7) EPCoT, Jun 1st, Sunday

We got to the park around 10:30 today, and we got our FP for Test Track, went through the Ice Station, and yes, I tricked everyone into trying the Beverly! It was very funny!
Went on JIYI and then to lunch at Le Cellier. It was yummy. Hubby got a bowl of cheese soup, and I got the beef and barley, then we split a roast beef sandwich. I really want to try this place for supper sometime. Has anyone had the “glowing drink” they have there? It looked really neat.

We did a few countries and spaceship earth again. My sister had an extra coupon for the 4 of us to join them at the story time in Innoventions. It is like a flex feature for guest who have purchased a package. Both DD and DS loved Reada Rite, and she told the wonderful story of Sleeping Beauty. Then Sleeping Beauty came out of the story book and took pictures with the kids (which I will post soon) and signed autographs. I was such a neat part of our trip!!

We then took the monorail over to MK for SpectroMagic and the fireworks. Oh my, this was our first time to see SpectoMagic and it was wonderful! The fireworks were at 9:15 or 9:30 (I cannot remember, so after that we went on PoC and back to the WL to swim.

[BDavis932]

Day 8) MK, June 2nd , Monday

This day was HOT and HUMID and MK was really busy. I am so happy the rest of the week wasn’t like today. We spent the day with my sister and her family and did SM, Buzz Lightyear, Dumbo, Peter Pan, Small World, PoC, Tiki Room, etc.

We ate lunch at Cosmic Rays and supper at the Plaza. My sister and her family wanted to watch SpectroMagic again from our table in the Plaza, but we want to catch the TTA and Buzz Lightyear, and ended up on the bridge between Tomorrow Land and the castle just as tinkerbell flew over our heads! We were in awe…..it was so magical! It took us over an hour to get back to the WL. I started packing and then went to bed.


Flag Morning/Departure Day, Tuesday:

We had to be up by 7:30 to be a flag family this morning. It was fantastic. The cast member took us up to the concerige level and then through the secret entrance to the roof. My Dad couldn’t do it. He is very afraid of heights. While we were up there, one of the concierges showed him some pictures of what it looks like up there on his computer.

This was such a neat ceremony. The view was breathtaking. We could see all four parks from up there. She gave us a certificate and we got to snack at the conceige breakfast bar. Then we had to pack. Check out was at 11:00. We didn’t actually get everything out of the room until 11:20, but it turned out okay. We got everything loaded in the van, and then it started raining. What luck, we thought! But we didn’t get even 2 miles down the road and DD said “my tummy hurts” and immediately threw up twice all over her car seat, me, and the floor in my van. Ugh….1200 miles with that smell was more than I could bare to imagine, so we pulled in at the AAA car center, and I changed, and cleaned everything as well as I could. Then around noon, we hit the road home. We stayed the night in Mobile, AL,


Last leg of trip home, Wednesday:

Wednesday morning, we took off around 9:00 for home. When we got within 10 miles of home (approx 7:30 pm) and we got a phone call on our cell phone that we needed to go to my mother in laws house immediatley. My husband had stayed with her the night before we left on vacation and she was doing okay then, but she took a turn for the worse. (She had been given 6 months to live at the beginning of May) (lung cancer). When we arrived she was in a coma. He stayed there, and I came home and unloaded the van, then repacked him a bag and took his bag and his van to him and arrived home about midnight. Whew…what a day!

The first and last days of our trip were not good, but all the days in between were wonderful! We had so much fun while we were there and did so many new things. We all had such a fun time pin trading, and the kids earning their own money for souvineers really cut down on the “I want this” and “I want that” businesss. Back to the Disney store I go to get more allowance! It is really a great way for them to save money and not have the urge to spend it!!

I know I have left a lot out and I will add comments of the trip in various other threads, but this is it in a nutshell!

By the way, we were going to stay at the Boardwalk Villas in March, but have now changed our mind to stay at the Wilderness Lodge again. We really love it there! It is so beautiful and relaxing! Thanks for reading!

[BuzzLightyear]

Wow! Awesome trip report!! We were there the same week as you guys, but didn't fit nearly as much into our schedule.

Sorry to hear about your husbands arm and yout MIL. You really did a good job of keeping everything going great in between.
Your last day was a real tough one! Great job getting through that also!

[goofygal1975]

Besides your first and last few days, it sounds like you had a wonderful time!! I can't believe how much you guys got done!! Yet it sounds like you still had time to relax, and even sleep in. Thank you for posting these reports. I'm glad you were able to have an enjoyable time!!

[tinkerbell]

Ohh thank you !! BDavis932, I know this wasnt the perfect trip for you but that was a wonderful trip report. I still feel so bad for your DH. I had heard from Dixie that celebrations was a wonderful hospital and I guess if you have to go while your at WDW going to a disney hospital is the only way.
thanks again for the trip report!!

[dab]

Thanks for taking the time to include so many trip details! What a way to start and end a trip! So sorry to hear about your MIL and DH.
I've never heard about the strorytime at Innoventions. Do they have a list of stories they read or is it just Sleeping Beauty. My DD loves Aurora and would love to do that but we don't have any flex features. We just booked the fairytale package with no add-ons. I wonder if we could find a way to do it.

About the Flag Family. I know it's on the roof. My DH is a little sensitive to heights but would be ok on a roof as long as he wasn't too close to the edge. Please advise. Did your 3 yr old go too and if so what did she think of the height? I read somewhere that the flag family got certificates for breakfast at Roaring Forks. I guess they have replaced that with b-fast at the concierge lounge. We definately plan on asking when we check in.

[neen626]

So sorry to hear about your DH accident, and then about you MIL.
I was glad to hear that inbetween you all really had such a great time. Sounds like you all really packed alot into your trip. It was also good to hear that the parks were not really crowded when you went. Next year we plan on going at the same time, since DS gets out of school the week before Memorial Day.
Seems like you really enjoyed the WL, I may have to consider that one for our stay.
Thanks again for your report and know that thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

[BDavis932]

Thanks guys!

Here's the answers to your questions so far:

I've never heard about the strorytime at Innoventions. Do they have a list of stories they read or is it just Sleeping Beauty. My DD loves Aurora and would love to do that but we don't have any flex features. We just booked the fairytale package with no add-ons. I wonder if we could find a way to do it.

**When we booked it, we were told that it would be Toy Story, and when we got there, the boys were a little surprised it was Sleeping Beauty! It is about 30 minutes (give or take) and the lady who read the story (by memory) was awesome! She is a "bookmark" named "Reada Rite". It was very neat. It is ONLY for guests that have purchase the dream maker package. My sister somehow ended up with an extra ticket, and she gave it to us!

About the Flag Family. I know it's on the roof. My DH is a little sensitive to heights but would be ok on a roof as long as he wasn't too close to the edge. Please advise. Did your 3 yr old go too and if so what did she think of the height?

My Dad would have been fine, if we could have got him on the roof. He went on the elevator, past railing of the 7th floor, and then down the hallway to the 7 1/2 floor, then he had to go up about 10 steps that overlooked the entire lobby of the resort and it was on a landing that was only about 4 or 5 feet wide. If he could have somehow bypassed that part, he'd been fine. The lady told him that at that point, some people just stop and sit down and won't move!! I thought it was breathtaking. He said that if there was a million dollars waiting for him on that roof, there was no way he could get it!

Both my kids loved the view from the roof! DD didn't have a problem (she has NO Fear!) I will attach pictures of DD raising the Mickey Mouse flag and also a picture of the view from the stairway on the 7 and 1/2 floor.

[BDavis932]

Here is a picture of DD raising the Mickey Mouse Flag

[BDavis932]

Here is the view from the 7 & 1/2 floor in the Wilderness Lodge (just before we went up on the roof)

[BDavis932]

Look above the Totem Pole and you will see the "secret stairway" to the roof. If you can make it past this, you'll be okay.

[BDavis932]

Here is a birds eye view of the villas:

[BDavis932]

Here is the view of the castle from the roof of the lodge: