[iluvwdw]

Hi everyone!!! I just got back from 7 glorious days from Walt Disney World!!! We left Sunday 8/17 at 7:30am and got home Saturday 8/23 at midnight. The weather was absolutely the worst weather I have ever encountered on my many vacations to WDW. It was HORRIBLE! It rained EACH AND EVERY DAY from mid afternoon all the way through to bed time (most days). Not just rained, POURED!!! And it was so bad that many of the fireworks were cancelled most days...the only show we were able to see was Illuminations, because the rain had let up some that night! Although the weather was so bad, I still had a great time...I just wish we had better weather, we could have done so much more! We couldn't even walk around DTD at night to shop, go to PI, etc. It just wasn't in the cards for us this trip, I guess!!!

I am really busy at work and everything, and I still have not fully unpacked! :dazed But I will get out a somewhat detailed trip report shortly.

Now I have my next Disney Adventure to look forward to...:whistle:

[mickaholic4077]

Sorry to hear about all the rain,but glad you had a good time anyway. Can't wait to see the rest of your trip report.

[goofygal1975]

Can't wait to read all about your trip!! The rain is a bummer, though!! I know you still had a great time!

[ajbdk5]

Too bad about ALL THAT RAIN!:madmad :(
That stinks!

I can't wait to hear more about your trip....and ESPECIALLY...
to see your PICS!!!!:) :D


Amy:)

[dznygrl]

UGH! RAIN!!!! :madmad I live with enough rain, thankyaverymuch!!!! I really hope it doesn't pour all through our trip...

Can't wait for your trip report, iluvwdw!!! :D So good to have you back!!! :love:

[dab]

Glad to have you back. Now that you've had time to drip-dry you'll have to fill us in on all the soggy details!

[DisneyAnne]

Girl...you have been missed around here. Just glad you are back and in one piece... Share the details with us as soon as things get back to normal...:heart

[DisneyTeacher]

Welcome back Kim, we missed you around here. I am so sorry to hear about all of your rain!! I can't wait to read about your trip.

[iluvwdw]

My Walt Disney World Vacation – August 17th – 23rd, 2003

Cast of Characters:

Me – Kim (iluvwdw)
DH – Eugene
DB – Bryan – 16 years old
DS – Nathaniel – 22 months old

DAY ONE – WE FINALLY ARRIVE!

I didn’t get much sleep the night before. I was up until about 3am putting the finishing touches on the suitcases, going over the packing lists over and over and making sure I wouldn’t forget anything. I also was on-line, composing a 5 page email for my office coverage; this really worried me, since we had the BIG black out on Thursday afternoon and we weren’t able to get back into the office to work on Friday. I even went into Manhattan when the power went back on in the city to see if I could at least get into my office and organize my desk, my folders and all of that fun stuff! So I make a trip all the way into the city and although my building was open, I could not gain access into my office, because the entry computers crashed in the blackout and had to be reprogrammed Monday morning. GREAT. So the night before I left, I was going through everything in my mind that I could think of at work, so nothing would fall through the cracks.

I finally got to bed about 3am or so, waking up to the sound of the blaring alarm at 4:45am so I could take a shower. Boy, was I exhausted!!! When I was almost done getting ready, I woke everyone else up so that we could leave for the airport by 5:30am. We had a 7:30am flight, but needed to add Nathaniel to my plane ticket (he would be sitting on my lap) so we had to be there early! (we did this so late, because we were seated in an exit row and they had no where else to put us, so they told me to come to the airport early, where they would change all of the seats around). We got there as scheduled, added Nathaniel to the ticket and we were on our way. The flight was on-time, and as we were ready to take off, it started to rain in New York. It was just drizzling at that point, so it did not affect our take off. I was glad to get away from the lousy weather! (LITTLE DID I KNOW, HUH?!?)

We arrive in Orlando at 10am...right on time! I love this airport..compared to NY airports, it is heaven. And everything is so organized! We didn’t have to wait for our luggage; as we approached the conveyor belt, the luggage was just starting to come down. I went to the ladies room to change Nathaniel while Eugene and Bryan collected the luggage and car seat. When I came out, they had everything and we were off to the rental car counter!

We get downstairs and the Alamo line is ridiculous...I have NEVER seen it this long. And all of the other counters were nearly empty, while Alamo must have had every passenger from my flight on this line! I bypass the line, and ask where QUICK SILVER members get their car. They told me to go across the street, where you pick up the car and everything would be taken care of for me there. THANK GOD! Everyone was really happy about that and I was so glad that I signed up for this service. It seriously saved us at least an hour of waiting! We go across the street to sign for our car. They handed us the rental info and told us to pick any minivan in the minivan row and we were off! I kept thinking “That’s it? This is too easy!”. So we chose a minivan with the most storage, with captains chairs in the first and second row and a bench for the 3rd row. It was a Silhouette. I never heard of this car, but it was the biggest and we went with it. It turned out to be great! I now want a minivan! (LOL)

We were off for our resort..the beautiful Vistana Resort, where I own time share. I absolutely LOVE it there, but this time we were staying in a small one bedroom, and I was curious to see how it would be. We are used to so much room of the big 2 bedroom units!

When we arrived, of course there were no rooms ready. Of all the years coming to Orlando and staying at Vistana, I have never been able to go to my room early in the morning. Oh well. So it was 11am or so, and we decided to go to Wal Mart, to pick up stuff we would need for the week. We got everything, and decided to go eat lunch. We went near the resort, at the Cross Roads (right at DTD). We were going to go to Fridays there, but we decided to try a small Italian restaurant that was recommended by one of the guys at the resort. Well, let me tell you, it was SOOOO good! I HIGHLY recommend this place to everyone. It is really cheap, and the food is delicious! I have never tasted better garlic bread in my life. Actually, they were garlic rolls, and they were so good!

We went to the hotel and got our room. A lot smaller than we were used to, but it would do just fine. The one bathroom was the only thing that we would really have to get used to! But it turned out to be fine. Since it was such a beautiful day, Bryan and I took Nathaniel over to the pool while Eugene took a little nap. He needed it, he didn’t get to sleep on the plane like the rest of us did.

At dinner time, we were still full from our yummy lunch at Paesanos, so we decided to go to DTD to activate our Annual Passes and just walk around. It was so nice out..who knew this would be our only day to walk around DTD at night? Anyway, we shared a strawberry margarita, let Nathaniel ride the Carousel and we took some pics with some statues at the Pin Trading station. Nathaniel was still really tired. He fell asleep and was out for the count. We decided to see a movie at the theater on the West Side. We saw American Wedding (we were in the mood to laugh) and made it through the whole thing while Nathaniel slept in the carriage! We went home exhausted and went to bed approx 1am. We had to get up bright and early in the morning, for our 8am Chef Mickey’s PS! Time to take out the video camera!

[iluvwdw]

DAY TWO – MONDAY 8/18 - CHEF MICKEY'S AND THE MAGIC KINGDOM

We woke up later than planned, about 6:45. We all had to take showers and get ready, so we were running around like Chickens without heads. This is the time that 2 bathrooms would have been sooo helpful! We left for the Contemporary at 7:50 (we were supposed to be there already!) and I just knew we were going to be late. Well, it turns out that we made it just in time! My resort is very close and it only took us 10 minutes. I thought we were going to have to wait, since we were only checking in at 8am...turns out, they called us immediately! We took our group picture and waited to get seated. While we waited for the 2 minutes, we took pics with Goofy! Nathaniel loved him, and was running to take pictures with him while the other kids were posing for their own pictures! It was cute! We ate breakfast and I LOVED it. It was my favorite breakfast the entire week. Nathaniel loved all the characters and it turned out great. Except, I forgot the breakfast vouchers!!! Duh, how could I be so forgetful?!? Oh well, we have vouchers to use for another trip!

We left Chef Mickey’s at about 9:30am and went on over to the Magic Kingdom. Oh my goodness, boy was it CROWDED!!! I have never seen it this crowded...EVER!!!! We walked in and decided to get FPs for Space Mountain. We walk up to SM and the wait time was only 10 minutes! We couldn’t pass that up, so Bryan and I went on while Eugene waited with Nathaniel – we did the babyswap. Then we rode Buzz Lightyear and the wait time posted said 15 minutes, and it was more like an hour! Nathaniel fell asleep on Eugene’s shoulder and missed the whole ride. Eugene did the entire thing with Nathaniel on his shoulder. He controlled the ship and shot at the targets all with one arm and guess what? He had 100,000 points! I had 3300 points (yes...33 hundred!) After that, we walked towards Splash Mountain to get FP’s. We ate lunch a Pecos Bills, and I really liked it. The cheeseburger was so good! And their Fix Ins bar is the best I have ever seen – and it’s FREE! We took the railroad to Toon Town Fair and walked around there for a little bit. Then we took the train back and did Splash. It was so hot, and I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get wet at all! Oh well, c’est la vie. We went to Fantasyland next and decided to try Pooh. It said 15 minutes and again, it was more like an hour! Nathaniel was so cranky waiting on the line, but once we got on it, he loved it! When we got out, we walked a bit and decided on Haunted Mansion. So we waited about 10 minutes, did the ride, came out and it started POURING!!! We ran under an overhang of the restaurant right across from the HM (I forgot the name!) and we just stood there waiting for it to let up. We did not have our ponchos with us...I left the cheapies we bought at Wal-Mart, in the room! Nice job, Kim...again!!! Nathaniel fell asleep while we were waiting, and I sat in a kids rented stroller, while the renters were inside eating, I assumed. I was VERY comfortable and dry and that’s all I cared about. Eugene went on a mission to find ponchos to buy. After an hour (or two???) we put on our ponchos, took out the carriage cover (at least I remembered to bring that!) and decided to make a run for it. As we leave the park, guess what? They completely shut down the monorail and the only way to get to TTC is the Ferry...and EVERYONE was waiting for the Ferry. I thought we would never got on. However, they let people with carriages and wheelchairs go, since there was only one way we could get onto the boat. So thankfully, we bypassed a lot of the wait. We got on the next boat and went HOME!!!

[Willbegone]

Sounds like day one went smooth! That is just how we all like them. Keep it coming, trip reports keep me from going completely WDW crazy!

[iluvwdw]

DAY THREE – TUESDAY 8/19

Today, Eugene and I were having breakfast at the resort (continental style) and meeting with our resort staff members, to hear more about what is going on with the resort. We went at 8am and got out of there at about 9am or so. We woke up Bryan when we got back, and we all got ready to go to Epcot. We had a 2:50pm lunch at Le Cellier that I was using the VACATION KINGDOM LUNCH vouchers for. I wouldn’t forget them this time!

So we get to Epcot at about 11am, got FP’s for Mission Space and decided to get a LITTLE something to eat, since Bryan didn’t eat, Nathaniel didn’t eat and I barely ate. We went to do Mission Space and although it was a very cool ride with a cool concept, I don’t think I will be riding again. My husband and brother said the same thing. We all felt a little queasy after we got off and Bryan can usually handle ANYTHING! I hate anything that spins, in my old age of 30 (I used to love EVERY ride, but not any more!) Bryan had the pleasure of riding twice, due to baby swap and he vowed that was enough for him! We went to get FPs for Test Track and they were already gone for the day! Oh well.

It started to rain a little bit (nothing to get worried about yet) so we went into Journey into Imagination and Eugene and Bryan did Cranium command while Nathaniel and I walked around and did some hands on stuff. After that, we decided on walking around the countries...as it got closer to our PS at Le Cellier, Bryan and I realized that we weren’t hungry for a big lunch! So we were thinking of skipping it. We walked around and got a Margarita in Mexico (the rainbow kind, with 3 flavors...yum!!!), we did The River of Time and walked around the Mexico market place. A nice CM gave Nathaniel a pin of his choice for free! He chose this Mickey Circus pin. I thought that was so nice of her! We left Mexico and we caught the Character Caravan just as we were coming out. Nathaniel loved it! We saw the Living Statues in Italy and went to check out the menu at Alfredo’s, since we would be eating lunch there this Thursday. All of a sudden, it started to POUR!!!!!!! The rain was so bad, you couldn’t see in front of you walking! It was now 2:40pm and we decided to keep our 2:50p PS at Le Cellier!!! We ran there, and made it just 5 minutes late. Boy, were we soaked! Thank God for the Ponchos, though. Eugene used the VACATION KIINGDOM LUNCH voucher and Bryan and I didn’t, since we wouldn’t take full advantage of them. Eugene’s meal would have been nearly $50 without the vouchers! We ate until abour 4:30pm or so and as we left, it was still pouring REALLY BAD!!! We decided to go home and call it a day.

[iluvwdw]

DAY FOUR – WEDNESDAY 8/20 - UNIVERSAL ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

This is the day we would venture off of WDW property (I know, don’t throw stones at me!!) and go to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. We got there later than I wanted to (about 10am) since we stopped for breakfast at Shonees. Boy was it CROWDED!!! We waited 10 minutes just to pay for parking. Oh, what a day this would be!

We entered the park and went to get Express Passes for Spider Man and they were gone already! And the line was already at 90 minutes...oh no, what a day already! So I am thinking that maybe I want to spend the extra $25 per person so we could go to the front of the lines without having to wait for Express Passes and all. It’s a new feature they offer there called EXPRESS PASS PLUS, that allows you to go to the front of the line on any given ride (but you can only do it one time per ride!), just like as if you were staying on-site at a Universal Hotel. So I actually thought about doing it, if every ride was going to be a 90 minute wait.

Well, we asked the person at the front of Spider Man ride, where we do baby swap. Turns out, they have a separate waiting area for baby swap...I hate to say this, but’s is so much better than WDW’s baby swap! Basically, the rest of the party doesn’t really have to wait on line...although they are supposed to. We went to the baby swap room, and there is a separate entrance there for the baby swap group...this brings you right to the front of the line!!! OK,this was too good to be true. A 5 minute wait on Spider Man? OK, we’ll see how it goes for the next few rides.

So we go to Dr. Doom’s Fear Fall and try it again. There was already a 45 minute wait for that. So off we all go to babyswap area and again, no one has to wait! We walked right on! Next, we went to Incredible Hulk and we did the same thing...but we didn’t know where the baby swap was yet, so Bryan and I did single rider. It turned out to be a 10 minute wait and then we baby swapped and Eugene and Bryan just walked on! OK, another ride with a 75 minute wait, and we waited 10 minutes. This was all too good to be true!

Next, we walk over to Seuss’s landing, so Nathaniel can go on a few rides. We did ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH. He loved it. Then we did the Merry Go Round and after that, he fell asleep. While I was waiting on the line for the FISH ride, Eugene ran to the other side of the park to see if he could get Express Passes for the water rides in Toon Lagoon. Turns out they were gone, too! This park had all of the Express Passes gone for the day, WELL BEFORE 12noon!!! People would be waiting on some VERY LONG lines today...except us! Thank you, Nathaniel! LOL

Anyway, we walk over to the Deuling Dragons and again, we have absolutely NO wait because of baby swap. We get off and decide to do Jurassic Park. There was a 120 minute wait for this ride! EEEKKK! Who would wait this long? So we casually walked through the Express Pass lane, looking for the baby swap area. We found it and NO WAIT ON JURASSIC PARK! Thank you baby swap! I rode twice and the second time, while riding with Eugene, guess what? It started to POUR!!! AND we got soaked from the ride! Figures it would start pouring when we were on a water ride. Just my luck, huh? So we put on our ponchos and walk around and the rain does not let up. The only 2 big rides we have not done were the 2 water rides in Toon Lagoon, and Sinbad and Poseidon’s Adventure. We decided to leave the park, walk on City Walk and go to Nascar Café for lunch. These were THE BEST ribs I have ever eaten! I ate the whole order! Wow, I must have been hungry! :whistle:


That night, it kind of stopped raining, so we got dressed and went to the Outlets not too far from our resort and then to Friendly for ice cream and shakes. Then home to sleep so we can wake up early to beat the afternoon rain!!! UGH! :madmad

[Willbegone]

Another great installment! Was the quesy feeling after Mission:Space the reason you won't ride again?? Was the ride worth it at least once even with the quesy feeling??

[iluvwdw]

DAY FIVE – THURSDAY 8/21

We woke up early and were deciding on which park to do, so we decide on MGM today and Animal Kingdom Friday, but it was already 9am and I want to be at AK when it first opens, so today is out of the question. The only problem is, I had PS’s at Crystal Palace for tomorrow morning at 10:10am! So I decided to call 407-WDW-DINE, and asked to change my PS from tomorrow to today. And he had a 9:50 PS available for us today! Yippee! We gathered our stuff, and got to Crystal Palace just in time for our PS. And they weren’t taking walk ups any longer either...breakfast has officially sold out, unless you had a PS! Thank God! OK, this is the day that made the whole trip worth while. This is the day I will remember forever, because of how happy my 22 month old was today.


We walk into CP and get our table. The waiter kindly told us that Pooh no longer comes around to the tables, that he stands right at the buffet, so everyone can go up and see him, take pics and get his autograph whenever they want to! So Nathaniel hasn’t seen Pooh yet. I show him some of the other characters all over the room, and Eugene and Bryan go get food. The characters slowly start making their way around to each table in our section, and Nathaniel is getting more and more excited. So I get up to go to the buffet, and Nathaniel turns around in his high chair, not wanting me to go. Eugene told me he was getting ready to cry or call for me or something, when he saw Pooh. Eugene said he nearly jumped out of the chair, screaming POOH, clapping, laughing, etc. Eugene said he never saw him so excited! So the characters were coming around and taking pics with Nathaniel. He was LOVING IT. He was hugging them and he wouldn’t even let go. He was so happy to be here. As we leave, this is when we decide to take Nathaniel up to meet Pooh. So we do, and he freaks out, grabbing him, wanting Pooh to hold him, kissing him, hugging him and he would not let Pooh go. I mean, for a straight minute, he just hugged Pooh and smiled like this was the best thing that has ever happened to him! When we could finally get him away, we put him down to walk out the door. All of a sudden, music starts and it is someone’s birthday and Pooh starts walking around the restaurant, as do the other characters, doing a celebratory conga line, if you want to call it that. The birthday girl was right in back of Pooh and other kids were following...6 years olds, 7 year olds, kids that age. Well, Nathaniel broke free of my hand and ran as fast as he could, screaming and laughing and clapping, yelling POOH the whole way. He made his way to the front of the line, right behind Pooh! Everyone in the whole place was looking at him and laughing. I mean, all of a sudden this little guy is running through the restaurant, cutting in front of everyone, laughing hysterically, calling POOH...everyone’s eyes were on my son. And when the march was done, Pooh was walking to the back (to take a break, I guess), and Nathaniel followed him back there! I had to go get him! I was laughing so hard, my stomach hurt. I have never seen anything so cute in all my life!!!

After that excitement, we decide to get Nathaniel’s haircut on Main Street. I am so glad we did this! He was so good and he got a certificate (that got ruined in the rain that would come later L) and also got Mickey Ears that says FIRST HAIRCUT on it. He also got Pixie Dust sprinkled on him and I said OH LOOK NATHANIEL, CONFETTI! The CM said NO, CONFETTI IS AT UNIVERSAL. IT’S PIXIE DUST HERE! I thought that was so funny! Pinnochio even came into take a pic with Nathaniel and pretend to be getting his haircut too. It was great!

After that, we went to Fantasy Land. We watched the show at the castle and walked on to Snow White’s Scary Adventures. We were going to do Dumbo, but the line was soooo long!

We decided to leave and go to MGM. We took the busses and realized that the bus service isn’t good at all! There were no busses anywhere in sight for at least a half hour. I won’t be making the mistake of relying solely on the bus system ever!

So we got to MGM and we went and practically walked on TOT and had FPs for RNR. But the FP time ws 3:55p-4:55p and our PS at Alfredo’s in Italy was at 4:15! Oh well, we decided to do the Movie Ride. We waited about a half hour and Eugene and Bryan were bored. We got the gangster and it was a girl who really STUNK at her part. I mean, I could have done a better job. It was soooooo bad!!!!!!!

So we walk out and guess what? It’s POURING and the carriage is stuck in the rain. Soaked! I ran to buy a towel to put in the carriage so Nathaniel can sit in it. We left to go to Epcot to make our PS at Alfredo’s. Turns out, we got stuck in MORE rain and we were 15 minutes late for our PS. We get seated immediately and notice they were serving dinner...it was now 4:30. So I went up to the front to tell them I was using LUNCH vouchers and my PS was for the last seating of lunch at 4:15. They were fine with it, they just had us choose from the lunch menu. Just so you know, this was one of the best meals I ever had. Our bill came out to $190 including tip and we only paid $90! YUP! You guessed it! VACATION KINGDOM LUNCH VOUCHERS! All we had to do at the end of the meal was sign the voucher and hand it over. These are the best things ever, and I plan to use them every time I go to WDW!

After our yummy dinner, we decide to go get the car from TTC and come back to see Illuminations. So we do that, and guess what? We got to ride in the front of the monorail!! Nathaniel even got his own Pilot’s License. It was great!!!!!! So we get our car and go back to Epcot and park in the 2nd row! Couldn’t get any more convenient than that, huh? So we go back in and walk around a little, looking for a good spot to catch Illuminations. We decided to stay right in front, near the entrance to the World Showcase and we found a nice spot around the lake. It was beautiful. No matter how many times I see this, I fall in love with it. It always makes me so happy!
After the show, we left for the hotel because we were getting up early for AK!