[mickaholic4077]

We left the house at 8:30 and pulled into Pop Century resort by 10. I absolutely loved it!!! Our room was ready for us,which was a very pleasant surprise,as we thought the place would be filled to capacity because it was New Year's. The great thing about PC is everything is truly within walking distance. After putting our stuff in our room,my mother and I walked back to Classic Hall to take the bus to Magic Kingdom. We waited about 10 or so minutes for the bus to pull up. I had to stand,but my mother got a seat. It was VERY crowded at MK. We were going to stay for the Merry Christmas parade,but it started in Frontierland instead of Main St.,so we thought we wouldn't get to MGM in time for our PS at Hollywood & Vine. When we left MK(didn't go on anything,just wanted to see Main ST. decorated),they wouldn't let anyone get on the Express Monorail. I still don't understand the reasoning on that one!! We got to MGM(using the bus-just took 10 minutes from the time we got at bus stop til it came) in time to see the 1:45 showing of Beauty & the beast,which we enjoyed as usual. We were just in time for the mGM parade,which I was so happy about. I was watching the crowd,and I saw this little boy with Down's Syndrome and the look of wonder on his face when he saw the characters made me want to cry. That alone was worth the whole trip,to see the look of joy on a child's face!!

[mickaholic4077]

Our PS at Hollywood & Vine went great!! Oh,I forgot to mention that it was really hot yesterday. I practically inhaled my first glass of Diet Coke when we were seated!! At the end of the meal something happened which made me realize why Disney customer service can be so great. When I called for the PS,I was told that if we booked the Fantasmic package we couldn't use our Disney Dining Discount. I then said,fine,we'll just get a regular PS so we could use our DDD. When we went to pay the bill,our server told us that due to the holiday,no discounts. I told her that we made a point of telling the operator that we were DDD people and weren't told about the no discounts on the holiday rule or we would have gone ahead and booked Fantasmic. She got the manager for us,and after we explained our situation,she offered us Fantasmic PS's. Now she didn't have to do that. That was just good customer service. Yesterday was the first time we have used the PS's for Fantasmic. The seats were much better than I thought they would be. As always,fantasmic was great!!

[mickaholic4077]

More tomorrow. I'm really tired!!!! Good night,everyone.

[15 mins to wdw]

the express monorail is one way service at certain times this includes park opening and closing. well I don't know the exact time you were trying to get on it sounds like it was probly during what disney classifies as opening times. by doing this it allows them to do a 45 second stop and be gone as opposed to a 90 second stop. as a end result this reduces the stoping monorail approaching the MK.

[dznygrl]

Mick, so far, so wonderful! I am glad you had such a magical New Year! :love:

I was far too tired to enjoy mine...went to the arcade with some friends and made a high score on Lord of the Rings pinball (I am so sadly addicted!), then went back to Ryan's and tried to watch Lion King. I got about as far as "The Morning Report" before I started falling asleep... I vaguely remember Ryan driving me home at midnight as fireworks were exploding all over the place, and the next thing I remember is waking up at about 10:00 AM this morning and more SNOW had fallen!!! :D I looooooove snow, and I live on the valley floor in Oregon, so while everyone around us gets snow, we generally get nothing. The past few days we've had inches upon inches!!!!!!! That made my New Year worthwhile!

Anyway, enough about me...I want to hear more about Mickaholic's New Year! :)

[Dana]

So far a wonderful report. I am eager to read on. Get some rest so you can tell it all...:)

[mickaholic4077]

I forgot to say that when entering the ampitheater(sp?)for the show,we got hats and noisemakers. Pretty cool!!!

Anyway,after Fantasmic,we left MGM and went to the launch to take it to Epcot. Wouldn't you know that the launch was just taking off as we approached the dock? We settled down to wait the 20 minutes,but within 4 minutes another one showed up!! I think that on New Year's they had extra everything,from buses to launches. Anyway,we got to Epcot around 8 pm. I was concerned that we might not get into Epcot,but we did. It was packed,however!! All we did was walk past UK into the building where they had Millenium village. There ws a salsa party going on. I didn't dance,but we listened to the music for a bit. It was good. We then came out and got seats for the 11:40 showing of Illuminations.(around 8:15). We sat at the first area over the bridge where they sort of have 2 levels(sat in upper;lower was full already!!).It was kind of funny seeing all these kids asleep in their parents arms.It was a long wait for the show,but I passed the time by peope watching and talkling to people around me.

[mickaholic4077]

I have to take my mother to work this morning,so I'll be back later to finish up my report. Bye for now!!!

[mickaholic4077]

The fireworks were some of the best I had seen in a long while. I really enjoyed being at Epcot for New Year's. The only thing I would change is sitting for close to four hours on a ledge with no back support. Next time,we will make a PS for Rose and Crown for 9:30-10pm and ask for an outside table.

When it was almost time for the countdown,they did a little bit of fireworks from each country in the order that New Year's came to where they are located in the world. First it was Japan,then China,then 6 our time it was France,Italy and Germany,and I think Norway,then Morocco and UK,and then Mexico,Canada,ad then the US of A!!!!! After that,the whole WS did a countdown and then the skies erupted with fireworks. I really loved it!!!

After the fireworks ended,we exited at the international Gateway back to MGM because the Pop Century bus was first in MGM parking lot & it saved us alot of time taking the launch instead of walking all the way through Epcot and then walking to the end of the bus parking lot for PC bus. We didn't make the first launch,but less than 5 minutes later another launch came. I think they were moving faster than normal,because we got to MGM in just over 20 minutes vs the half hour it usually takes. When we got to the parking lot,once again we missed the bus,but another one came in 2 minutes 36 seconds(I had my stop watch on).We barely made that one;in fact,we both had to stand up. It took us 10 minutes to get out of the parking lot. AT least they had alot of people directing traffic. We got back to Classic Hall at 1:30,did our business in theladies room,walked to our room,and just about collapsed!

More to come tonight or tomorrow!!!

[LRTJS]

What a wonderful trip. I was at Epcot last New Years Eve and there was a horrible storm! Tornado warnings even! Glad yours was better. It is nice to be able to go when it is crowded and not have to worry about getting on attractions. Just going to soap up the magic is sometimes better!

[tinkerbell]

mickaholic4077, one word describes how I feel about your trip report ... envy!!!!!!!

[Dana]

The multiple foreworks display for each country sounds awesome! What a great show I'll bet that was. I can't wait to read the rest of the report.

[geeman]

In echo of one of the top ten signs I'm posting too much on DC from last year...
While watching "New Year's Rockin' Eve", they showed clips of the fireworks at WDW and Disneyland. I couldn't help but think, "I wonder if Mickaholic's there". Mind you, I have no idea who you are, what you look like, or anything like that. But I was trying to imagine what it might have been like from your viewpoint, since I'd remembered you posting you'd be there New Year's Eve.

Awesome. Thanks for the info. It's almost like being there.:)
All right... Not quite like being there...
But...
Almost!:)

[Ragin]

Thanks for the detailed info. I think my family will be at WDW next New Years (2004/2005) and I believe, after reading your report, we'll be spending Dec 31 at Epcot. How fun..hats, blowers, fireworks...I'm so excited!

What a great report!

[mickaholic4077]

Sorry I am so late getting to the end of this report!! I haven't had access to a computer until now(Sat.night while watching Dallas-Carolina).

We woke up around 9:15. I took a shower as soon as I got up because I was too tired when we got into the room. One word of advice-Pop Century rooms don't have the soap/shampoo dispensers in the shower,so if you relied on them at All-Stars,you'll need to bring your own. They do have shampoo bottles and soaps. We got to the food court/gift shop around 10 in the morning. The gift shop portion had the usual stuff;nothing to really get enthusiastic about. The food court was good. I had the adult breakfast platter which was eggs,bacon,sausage,potatoes,and a biscuit for $5.69(I think). Our Disney Dining Discount passes were good here,which was nice. One again,the beverage fountain(soda,coffee,hot chocolate)is outside the area where you pay for your food. I saw ALOT of non-Disney mugs and cups being used(mine included). AS far as I'm concerned,if they don't put the beverage island inside the area where you pay,then they know that people aren't going to always buy the resort mug.

In conclusion,I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at Pop Century and I am looking forward to staying on the 24th of January. That time,if it is hot enough,I will DEFINITELY use the pool. I couldn't this time because of time constraints. I hope my description of the resort is helpful to whoever reads it.