March 3-7

GREAT START!!! :sohappy:

I love Trip Reports ... I feel like I'm THERE ALREADY!!!

Can't wait for Day 2!

Saturday, March 4th.


Ok, I was exhausted on Saturday morning because I had driven a total of 10 hours in the two previous days, plus went to MGM on Friday...None the less, when you're in WDW, you just force yourself to get up--and I did.

My girlfriend and I woke up very early (7) Saturday, went to breakfast at around 8ish, and got to Magic Kingdom by 9:15. I was amazed at how short the lines were in Frontierland/Adventureland. We got FP for Splash but didn't even need it. We got through Thunder in less than 10 minutes! My girlfriend was so scared of going on Splash Mountain (this was a recurring issue throughout the trip :king, but we both enjoyed it.

One thing that really caught us off guard was the IMMENSE water soak just before entering the 'cave' area. The entrance is right next to the big drop and when the boats drop, they cause a huge water spout, which in turn soaks the boat on its way up (MINE). And I was sitting in the middle on the right, so I got the absolute worst of it. The drop itself wasn't too bad, but we were both soaked for a couple hours following. I basically forced my gf to take a picture with the Bear, who was waiting at the exit of the ride (it was cute)

We hit up the popular rides after that--Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan, Tea Cups, basically everything in Liberty Square/Fantasyland. I was pleasantly surprised by Philharmagic. We both thoroughly enjoyed it. For some reason, we also went on the Snow White ride (?), which didn't exactly tickle my entertainment bone. Also, no 'small world' for us. I learned my lesson last time.

We ate at a restaurant in Liberty Square, and both had fish and chicken. After that we saw 'Share the Dream' (or whatever it's called!), and then went shopping on Main Street for a bit.

Tomorrowland was next and we did everything there--Speedway, Buzz Lightyear, Stitch, etc...Space Mountain broke down just as we entered, and when we went on Transit Authority, we saw them reopening it (I wanted to jump out of the moving car, lol!). We ended up on having a 15 minute wait, and my girlfriend loved Space Mountain (as did I, of course!).

For dinner we went to Liberty Tree Tavern--I made reservations for this a few days in advance. I originally got a table at Cinderella's Royal Table a week before, but I heard it wasn't worth the price or circumstance (two college students). Anyway, Goofy, Minnie, Pluto, Chip and Dale were all there, the food was great and we took tons of pictures.

After Spectromagic and Wishes, we went back to the hotel. We went to bed soon after, and I had a pretty good night sleep. Epcot was next!

MGM without doing TOT or RNR :hammer:

CAPTAIN HOOK said:

MGM without doing TOT or RNR :hammer:

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We were on the line for RNR, but we had FP for the 'Lights, Camera, etc.' stunt show so we had to leave the line. My girlfriend absolutely would not do TOT.

Sunday, March 5th...

Probably the longest day of our Disney adventure. We woke up at a decent time (7:30), went to breakfast at around 8:30, and took the bus to Epcot at around 9:30.

This was my girlfriend's first time at Epcot, so I wanted to make it fun and lasting for her. I hadn't been to Epcot in about 7 or 8 years anyway, so it was pretty fun for me too.

When we first got to Epcot, we got a locker (as we did in Magic Kingdom) and put my trusty 'Unofficial Guide' along with our sweaters (it got very cold at night while we were there). The first thing we did was Spaceship Earth (you're practically thrown into it because it's the first attraction you see AND it's in the sphereoid). It was a relatively short line (15 minutes), and thoroughly enjoyable!

What happened next was interesting. Future World is just full of so many attractions it's hard to figure out what order to do it all in. We went to Test Track and got an FP, which was scheduled for a little over 2 hours later. We decided to wait on the Mission:Space line (20-25 minutes), and I'll admit this was the only ride I was a little uneasy about.

When we finally got into the capsule, I got clostrophobic(sp)...I don't get motion sickness, but I was really frightened! When we lifted off, the pressure was completely unexpected and I think I skipped about 10 beats. The cold air was right in my eyes and I began tearing inadvertently. I remember the tears literally streaming backward across my head because of the intense pressure. All in all, it was a great experience and 15 minutes after we got out I almost decided to go back.

But we thought better because it was already 11:30 by that time and we wanted to do everything possible. Epcot is huge, and I knew that if we dawdled too long, we wouldn't see all there was to see. We went to the Living Seas (I had a lunch reservation at 1:30 at Coral Reef, so I wanted to see if my girlfriend like it). We decided against it because it wasn't worth the money and she wanted a couple souveneirs instead (I obliged). We visited the huge aquarium, saw some sharks and read some facts. After that, we went into the big store in the middle of Future World and shopped for about half hour.

At around 12:45 (I'm guessing), we went to Test Track a little earlier than our FP allowed, but they let us in. We still ended up waiting about 10-15 minutes. This ride was fun, especially the speedway around the perimeter track (60 mph, open air!). We let our stomachs settle a bit, and at around 1:30 we ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella (I think that's it, in the middle of Future World)...After that we went to "The Land"...FP for Soarin' was like 3:30 and we didn't want to spend that long in Future World...so we waited in line for about 45 minutes. The ride itself wasn't what I expected it to be (you all make it seem like a slice of heaven! It's nice, but I was almost disappointed!). Still, my girlfriend loved it and that made me happy.

We wanted to do Living with the Land, but the wait was almost half hour and we wanted to see the World Showcase.

So at around 2:30, we went to the World Showcase. We went in order and did the rides at Mexico and Norway. We both loved every single country (although my girlfriend was a little judgemental about Mexico because she's Argentinian, lol!). At China they were doing acrobatics (I took a video on my phone), and Japan they were drumming (very good!). We managed to check out every single country for at least 20 minutes (more for some).

We took a ton of pictures everywhere, and loved everything! By the UK, my legs were telling me to stop walking, but I trekked on because I didn't want to wimp out in front of the girlfriend.

I had made reservations at Chefs de France, San Angel Inn, L'Originale Alfredo and Le Cellier. I intended to show my girlfriend all four and have her choose the best. But in the end, she decided that she'd rather leave Epcot early and do to Downtown Disney for a nightcap.

So we finished Canada at around 6:15-6:30ish, then went back to Future World. We decided to go on Living with the Land, which was a great idea. Our CM knew what he was talking about for sure (I can't believe he memorized all that info!). I was completely impressed with all the foliage and crops that are grown in the greenhouse. They even had some specially made in the 'Mickey' shape.

There was a bit of a dilemma...We wanted to stay for Illuminations, but we had just seen Wishes and Spectromagic the night before (Fantasmic on Friday), and we really wanted to go to Downtown Disney...Sunday was the only day we could have because we were planning on leaving Monday night.

We left Epcot, made it to Pop by around 7:45, and stopped by the room for about 45 minutes. While there, my girlfriend asked me if I wanted to stay an extra night. At first, I was skeptical. I had everything budgeted and I didn't know if I could afford it. But honestly I had money left over because we didn't spend as much the first three days as I thought we would. So I called the Front Desk and asked to extend my stay. The lady said ok, and I thought everything was great.

We left the room at around 8:30, got some food in the cafeteria, and arrived at Downtown Disney by 9:15. We dawdled in a couple stores before making it to World of Disney. We shopped there for an hour, found some souveneirs, and then went back to Pop at around 10:30.

My girlfriend stayed up for a bit typing an essay for class that was due on Tuesday (the only way we would stay on Monday night was if she finished the essay and emailed it to her professor on Monday morning before Universal). I fell asleep at like 11, and I guess she did soon after as well. I slept with my contacts on because I literally passed out without realizing it, AND I forgot to set my alarm..

Luckily I awoke early Monday morning, roused my girlfriend and we began the day with her finishing her essay, before beginning our wild search for an internet connection in WDW

More to come on that adventure soon (and the final two days of the trip). Hope you enjoyed it so far!

Lefty said:

I had made reservations at Chefs de France, San Angel Inn, L'Originale Alfredo and Le Cellier. I intended to show my girlfriend all four and have her choose the best. But in the end, she decided that she'd rather leave Epcot early and do to Downtown Disney for a nightcap.

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Woah woah woah... Are you telling me that you made reservations for 4 resturants, all for the same night, and then ended up not using ANY of them? If so, Not cool. What if other people had wanted to get in, but couldn't because of one extra reservation? :brick:

DisneyBunny said:

Woah woah woah... Are you telling me that you made reservations for 4 resturants, all for the same night, and then ended up not using ANY of them? If so, Not cool. What if other people had wanted to get in, but couldn't because of one extra reservation? :brick:

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I called all of them at least 4 hours in advance. And I spoke with each restaurant--Chefs was the only one that was even remotely fully booked--and they still had plenty of openings.

So relax!

But thanks for commenting on the only aspect of my trip thus far that would give you pleasure in publicly defaming me.

Lefty said:

I called all of them at least 4 hours in advance. And I spoke with each restaurant--Chefs was the only one that was even remotely fully booked--and they still had plenty of openings.

So relax!

But thanks for commenting on the only aspect of my trip thus far that would give you pleasure in publicly defaming me.

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I was simply pointing out that, around these parts, double booking is considered a big taboo, let alone quadruple booking.

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=70471&highlight=double+booking

But at least you did call beforehand, and did check to see if they weren't busy, but you did not state that in your TR. I did not intend to publicly defame you, and derived no pleasure from it. I just would have felt frustrated if I wanted to get a seat and couldn't.

I called the WDW Restaurant reservation number about a million times before my trip. I asked about the availabilities in each restaurant leading up to the day that I left. There were times all over the place available at Epcot restaurants. If it was a busy weekend and it appeared that there were few very openings, I wouldn't have done it.

Either way, I'm sure most of you know that the restaurants I named don't necessarily need reservations.

Anyway, I understand your point--I feel the same way. But ya, I definitely took the necessary precautions. If it was Liberty Tree Tavern and I decided not to go at the last minute, then that would definitely have been wrong.

CAPTAIN HOOK said:

MGM without doing TOT or RNR :hammer:

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My thoughts exactly. These are the only reasons we go to MGM!!! We're in, on, on, out.

Good report LEFTY!

Thanks for sharing! I was down there with you that week!

The weather and crowd levels were AWESOME! I was there from 3/2 - 3/9.

Glad you had a good time, too!


:sohappy: :wave: :sohappy:

Awesome report Lefty. Many thanks!

Sam