[sandanv1]

Day 1 ? Sat. 9/27 1/2 Day
We planned to leave S. FL between 10 am and noon. Some last minute work has me rushing to leave at noon, but I did it. The drive was uneventful ? some rain ? one 5 minute monsoon but mostly sun.
Arrived at POR at 3:30pm. Was disappointed at check in, I faxed a request for Alligator Bayou ? we were in the Arcadian House. I asked the CM for a room in the Bayou but she said King Beds were hard to come by ? but we could check on Sunday or Monday and possibly move. We were pleased with the room and decided to stay put. Since DH had worked from 5am-9am he was ready for a nap. He napped right through a big thunderstorm at 5pm.
We had PS for Boma at 7:30 so we started the bus trip early about 6:15. First stop was DTD ? transfer busses ? then on to Boma. We had the bus to ourselves, and arrived at AKL at 6:45, it was a quick trip.
We were seated at 7:15 ? dinner was great as usual. We were back on the bus at 9:00 headed to DTD ? transfer busses again back at POR by 9:30. All alone on the bus again.
We visited the lobby/food court then walked to our room. It was a damp and muggy
night, but it was a great 1st day.

[sandanv1]

Day 2 ? Sunday 9/28/03
Because we will be here all week ? we decieded to sleep in ? but both of us were up at 730am and ready to get started. We did putz around for awhile, watched the news and park guide info, planned our day then headed to the food court. After a quick bagel we boarded the boat to DTD.
**Tip** Drivers are the best source of inside info
Our boat captain was chatty. We got a good view of the treehouse villas from the river/ The captain said the Tree houses were purchased by the Vacation club prior to 9/11 with the intent to turn them them into time share units. But, because of some wet-land conservation rules of some sort, they have not been able to transfer deed. So there they sit in limbo. The CM said they were very popular when they were part of Disney Institute. What a waste.
The next great view from the river was of Saratoga Springs. Workers were busy this Sunday morning. The captain infomed us that these will be premere accommodations. The CM said there are only 152 units in the first phase and that the units are large and in 4 sizes, studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom and 3 bedroom/split level. It was a very informative boat ride.
**Tip** Get passes at DTD guest relations.
I saw this tip on DC and it was a great one. We were the only ones at GR with 3 CM waiting on us. It was a time saver. We got our season passes and headed for MK. We had to hop on a resort bus then hop a MK bus, as no busses go from DTD to MK.
Arrive at MK and walk on in, there was a line at GR, so we were glad for the DTD tip.
MK seemed empty, not many people on main street. We headed towards Tomorrowland to start the trek around the park. We did Buzz Lightyear ? people mover ? space mountain. No lines anywhere. Headed towards Fantasyland ? lots of families here!! We Went in Mickey?s Philharmagic. WOW!!! This is by far the best! It is amazing how far animation has come since that Michael Jackson thing in Epcot. This was a truly amazing and entertaining show
On to the Haunted Mansion, the off to Pecos Bills for lunch. Tom Sawyers Island was open, I haven?t been there in over 20 years. DH has never been there. w\Walked the island for about an hour. Big Thunder was closed for refurbishing. Moved on to Splash Mount. No lines here either. Off to Pirates. It was raining when we left pirates so we headed for the resort.
Oops ? we got a Pal Mickey ? for me it was a little difficult to use. It was real hard to hear.

[BDavis932]

Great reports so far!! I'd take the rain over crowds any day!!! Can't wait to read tomorrows' up to the minute report!!

Thanks for sharing!

[tiggerlover1971]

great trip report !!! I just noticed you live in South florida so do I I live in Broward ( coral springs to be exact ) I am so excited I cant wait only a little over three weeks to DW and POR

[Willbegone]

WOW! A play by play trip report cool!!! I am enjoying your trip report and can't wait for today's installment. Keep it coming and I hope you are having a SUPER time.

[Jacki]

Originally posted by sandanv1
Day 2 ? Sunday 9/28/03
Oops ? we got a Pal Mickey ? for me it was a little difficult to use. It was real hard to hear.

I am sorry to hear your pal mickey was hard to hear, ??? if I had a problem with him I would just squeeze him again and listen.
you do have to bring him real close to your ear.

anyways, Love your reports, keep them up!! and keep having fun fun fun!!!!!!!!

TTFN, Jacki:)

[iluvwdw]

Sandi, I can't wait to read more about your trip!!! Keep the reports coming!!! It is helping with PDD...just a little bit!!!
:cry:

[LRTJS]

Sandi, thanks for the trip report. I am especially enjoyig hearing about the trip with just you and DH because it will be just us two on our trip. So far, it sounds like a blast! :D

[sandanv1]

Day 3, Monday 9/29/03
Today was another slow to go day, we really slept in today and didn't get started until 10:30am. We decided to skip breakfast and pick up lunch at MGM. It was an overcast, gloomy day from beginning to end, but thankfully it didn't rain and it seemed cooler. MGM was not crowded at all. Pal Mickey was easier to use today, and he did clue us in on short lines. We started with the Rockin Roller coaster, it was our first time. It was a real rush. DH was not too crazy about it; he was assuming it was like Space Mountain. After that first loop, he was holding on. He said the darkness helped him keep his cookies down, as he had no clue where the next loopy loo was. We did some strolling around. Trying to use the tips I found here at DC. Most of the shows were 12 and after. So we headed for lunch. We chose Sci-Fi and there was only a 15 min wait with no PS. We enjoyed it. I had the smoked turkey sandwich, I thought it was a little dry, DH had a burger, not much you can do to kill a burger. We headed to backlot tour. It is really weird with residential street tore up. We have always been here on weekends so it was exciting to be here on a weekday and see people working. It was also evident the tour has been adjusted to work around the construction. There were also many people working at the animation tour, something you don't see on a weekend. In the afternoon, we hit every show. By 5pm we had done everything. We chose not to stay for fantasmic, as we had done it before. Headed back to our room to kick of the shoes and drop off a trip report. We will head into town for dinner (it's only day 3 and we are tired of the food court already).

[Dana]

I can't bleieve you did it all by 5pm! Wow the crowds must be light. Good for you. It's nice to have no waits once in awhile. Sorry to hear about the gloomy weather but, at least most of your day was spent indoors enjoying shows. I feel you on the food court. It got old for me after day one. It's more or less what is offered in the parks. It's nice to get out and ahve a nice meal. Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip.

[sandanv1]

Day 4, Tues 9/30/03
Today we headed for Epcot. It is another overcast day, only difference is today is very breezy and a bit cooler. Our plan of action was to do Future World first. We were able to walk onto all the attractions, no lines, no waiting!!! The only thing we chickened out of was Mission Space. We spoke to many cast members who all reinforced what I had learned here at DC. It's a heck of a ride that can have effects you will feel for hours after. We also did some people watching at the exit of the attraction, and based on all information, we opted to "chicken out". It really was not worth it to us to possibly feel the effects for several hours. We spent lots of time at Innovations. The low crowds enabled us to linger at all the exhibits and try everything without someone standing there waiting to take your space. The only negative thing was at the "send an email photo postcard" place. We were the only ones there. We sent one to DS in Missouri, one to DS at home, one to Mom & dad to forward on. Then a very rude CM told us to move on that there was a limit on what we could send, and to "allow someone else to take a turn" well there was no one else in line or any where near us, and we had been careful to watch for someone wanting to take our spot, there wasn"t any one. Me being the peacekeeper in the family quickly moved DH, the loud mouthed redneck, away from there before he picked a fight with the rude CM.
We stopped by Ice Cool Station and there were lots of warnings NOT to try Beverly. The very nice CM manning the machines was talkative, explaining the different flavors and the relations to the countries. He even went in depth about Beverly, and how it is used in Italy. He totally convinced us to try it, we sipped slowly, and swished it in our mouth like he instructed and although I wouldn't drink a glassful, I found it wasn't that bad.
Off to the World Showcase, starting at Mexico we went in every country (something we have never done), watched every movie, looked through every shop, and had a great time. There were no crowds on this side either. We claimed a spot for Illuminations. It was a good show, but one we have seen before, so we were a little disappointed at the end, kind of a "that?s it?" feeling.
We took the bus from Epcot to the Boardwalk, hung out there for a short while, before hopping a bus to DTD. We planned to pick up a few snacks from the Gourmet store, but it is closed. Part of the building has a candy store, some pastries, but none of those delicious cakes they used to have. The other half of the old store is being refurbished into "The Earl of Sandwich" Shop.
Back to the room, for a good nights Sleep

Day 5, Wed 10/1/03
Off to the Animal Kingdom. Once again small crowds. We worked our way around the park. It had rained earlier so everything was wet. I was wearing sneakers and almost lost my footing several times. The safari was boring, no animals milling about, lots sleeping, or just laying there. 1 elephant. CM said it was because of the rainy weather. We opted to leave the park about 1pm. We headed back to our resort for some vacation R&R. We spent the afternoon touring the town of Celebration. If you are at WDW and have your own transportation I recommend this. We ate at Market Street Café. Great food, and loots of it for a decent price. And try the Homemade potato chip appetizer, they are smothered with blue cheese, tomatoes and green onions, Yummy. We browsed the shops and walked through the models. A great quiet day.

[mickaholic4077]

No more cakes???? No more giant chocolate chip cookies?????:( :( :( :( Say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[sandanv1]

Very limited cookies, no cakes:( CM Said they changed inventory to reflect the changibg tastes of visitors

[CowboyMickey]

That's a shame about the rude CM in EPCOT...never had that experience. You should have "burst into tears" and created a bit of a scene....;) I suppose the CM could just have been having an "off" day...we all get them (goodness knows I do!).

Having said that, still sounds as though he was being very unreasonable...

Great trip report, btw...thanks!

CM

[sandanv1]

Final Report, Days 6-8
10/2 Our Anniversary.
We planned a day of relaxation for today. We started with breakfast at Trails End in Fort Wilderness. It was very good. Our server was Ken; we always request his section when we go. He is the best CM I have ever encountered. We spent some time in FW. We took the boat back to MK. We picked up a Birthday Button for DH today. We circled the Kingdom at a leisurely pace. The only things we chose to do were Mickey’s Philharmonic, the Presidents, and a tasty pineapple whip. We headed out for POR. We intended to relax in the pool and hot tub, but the Hot tub bubbles were broken (and stayed broken the remainder of the trip) it was like sitting in a warm public bath. The main pool was a madhouse, so we tried the quiet pool which wasn’t that quiet. We headed back to the room and napped till tine to go to Ohanas. It was a nice afternoon, while DH snored, I watched Disney channels. It was pretty cool. We decided to take bus to MK then Monorail to Poly. There was another family headed for dinner also and running late. We told them the quickest way to Poly was monorail, but CM at MK Bus Depot told them to take the boat. They arrived at Poly 25 minutes later then us. Dinner was wonderful, we were seated right by the window, to bad there was no fireworks. I tried the crème Brulee for dessert and it was heavenly. We strolled on the Poly beach, and then took the monorail several times around the lagoon. We were all alone. I was a great ending.

10/3 DH Birthday surprise.
Lots of things planned for today all a surprise. I dragged myself out of bed at 6am to decorate the windows while DH snored. We had 8:15 PS for Crystal Palace. It was odd walking down Main Street all alone. DH wore Birthday Button and every CM wished him a Happy Birthday. We were seated by 8:20 and DH and his Birthday Button were a hit. CM put streamers on the table. CM server coaxed him to take part in the Birthday Parade with Piglet, while we sang Happy Birthday. After Breakfast, and photos with Pooh and friends he got a cupcake and signed card. It was great. He grinned from ear to ear, My GOAL surprise was to start at 10 am. We had some time to kill, and I pretended to shop. When we neared the Castle, I told DH to pose for a birthday photo. A very nice young lady offered to take both our pictures and whispered that they were ready for us. We arrived at the wishing well for phase 1 of Goofys Birthday Surprise. There was a letter waiting for him, that he didn’t see for a while. That letter leads him on a scavenger hunt to 8 different spots all over the MK. Each spot had another clue and a goofy gift. The final clue leads us back to the wishing well where his final surprise was waiting. Tickets to MNSSHP. He was thrilled.

I cannot say enough good things about GOAL. They were wonderful. If you have ever looked into one of their events, but thought it was not worth the price WRONG!! They were great, and my DH totally enjoyed himself, his scavenger hunt, all the goofy gifts and his final surprise. It was worth every penny.

MNSSHP was a first time experience for us. Boy how great! This is a must do if you are at WDW in October. I was disappointed that most of my photos didn’t turn out. There was so much going on, and special photo conditions (fog, smoke, darkness, colored spotlights, lots of moving around) that I didn’t stop to check my camera settings as much as I should have. The fireworks were spectacular. And the parade fun. We were wimping out of the night at 9:30pm after the fireworks, we were there all AM, my body hurt in places I didn’t know I had. As we made our way to the gates I was amazed at the lack of people waiting for the parade. At 5 minutes before parade time we found a great seat on the curb towards the beginning of Main Street. There was no one around. After the parade we went back to POR. We both got a very good nights sleep that night.

10/4 Meeting Day
I had a Little League Meeting and DH had an Umpire meeting at Contempory conference center. We spent ALL day there. The only Disney experience was the delicious lunch we were served. We left the meeting and headed into town for dinner at a local tourist eatery, the Golden Corral, not bad food, DH likes the steak on the Buffet. We visited DTD for our last night.

10/5 Leaving day
How sad to leave, but I was ready to go home, I was tired of eating in restaurants, and I wanted my own bed. We both agreed that 8 days was too long for us.
Some disappointments:
We never got a towel animal.
I was not as happy with Pal Mickey as I thought I would be.
The bubbles in the hot tub were broken all week
The prices in the food court went up on 10/1 DH didn’t notice but I did. Mugs are now $11.99.
Pushy Vacation Club sales persons
Some great things:
GOAL – They are great, I am satisfied customer.
MNSSHP
No lines, low crowds
Great CM’s
Disney magic all week long

Can’t wait to go back in Dec.
My photos are at webshots
http://community.webshots.com/user/sandanv1