(Mostly?) Live! from WDW, it's my trip report....

So as you can guess from the title, my plan is to post most of this daily during our trip. We'll see how that goes. My husband has to have the internet for work anyway, :brick: so I guess I might as well take advantage too right?

You probably know us, but just in case:


Myself, my husband, my daughter, and son - this photo was taken in December of 2008 - a great trip and our last visit during the holidays! We are looking forward to seeing the decorations again!

Then there will also be my sister and her husband (whom I don't have a great photo of) and my 2 nieces:

Who you may not being seeing too much of in this trip report. I love them like my own, but they aren't technically mine, so I don't want to post too many pictures of them on the interweb.

My baby brother and his girlfriend:


And my parents (here with my daughter, on St. Pat's Day)

We leave tomorrow around lunch and will arrive at WDW mid morning Thursday! The plan is to hit up Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic (if we don't freeze to death! ) that night.

The next few days are dictated by ADR's - Epcot, Epcot, and then the MK on Sunday, the next 7 days we will play it by ear! Woo Hoo for 10 days at Disney!

If you're headed down this week (or already there) be sure to say hello! if you see me, because (repeat after me......) I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button..... I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button (unlike the other trips I've forgotten it!)

Lastly, also starring in this trip report will be the outfits my mom has made for my kids and my nieces. She doesn't do this for a living, she just does it for fun, but for those of you who might be interested in similar outfits, I recommend Etsy.com, specifically the shop "Everything Abigail" for applique and " MissTinaSmocking" for smocked dresses.

Some of the outfits my mom has made (in TRIPLICATE! - there are 3 granddaughters on this trip!)




There will also be matching family tshirts :xmas: Heaven help us all - yes, we will be "that" family! This is my parent's, sister's and brother's first trip since 1995 (back when there were trees in the MK hub!) so they are just a *tiny* bit excited. Which may or may not have resulted in matching tshirts :lookaroun I can't wait for the look on their faces when we round that corner and see the castle! It's my #1 moment I'm looking forward to!!!

"See" you all tomorrow!! :wave:

Safe travels!!! We arrive Friday Morning and are so excited to be going back during the holidays as well! :xmas: We too were last there during the holidays in 2008.

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. Who knows maybe we will run into eah other!

Amazing! Your kids are too cute (pretty sure I say this *every* time you post).. and apparently adorable bows run in the family.

I am SO excited for this (it's almost a little sad, actually, but seeing as I have no life right now because of term papers I'm allowed a guilty pleasure).

Je t'attends!

Where did you find matching t-shirts? I am trying to get my mom and I matching t-shirts when we leave for Disney. I looked at the Disney Store website and could not find any matching shirts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

After driving all day, each group starting at different times, 9 of the 12 of us are reunited at a hotel in south Georgia, just 4 short hours from the World!!!! :sohappy:

My husband flys in late tomorrow (at this point he's already pushed his flight back twice due to meetings and closings...... hoping he actually makes it on a flight, even if it's the red eye! Can't complain too much since those meetings pay for the trip. ) My brother and his girlfriend fly in tomorrow afternoon.

The plan is to check out Pop, and then head straight to DHS. The ultimate plan is to watch Fantasmic tomorrow night - at all costs. Seeing Fantasmic tomorrow night really allows the rest of our week to be flexible. But it is going to be COLD - by WDW standards. Send us warm thoughts! :xmas:

Since the hubster won't be in until late, not sure if I'll fork over the $10 for internet just to post, so it may be Friday before I post again. Until then! :wave:

disneygirl1 said:

Safe travels!!! We arrive Friday Morning and are so excited to be going back during the holidays as well! :xmas: We too were last there during the holidays in 2008.

Can't wait to hear all about your trip. Who knows maybe we will run into eah other!

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I am so hoping to see you and your adorable son! PLEASE look for me!

tiaragirl said:

Amazing! Your kids are too cute (pretty sure I say this *every* time you post).. and apparently adorable bows run in the family.

I am SO excited for this (it's almost a little sad, actually, but seeing as I have no life right now because of term papers I'm allowed a guilty pleasure).

Je t'attends!

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You are always so sweet to say so! Of course I think they are too cute, but I'm just a little biased! :animwink: Good luck with the term papers - I don't miss those days at all.

stefan74 said:

Where did you find matching t-shirts? I am trying to get my mom and I matching t-shirts when we leave for Disney. I looked at the Disney Store website and could not find any matching shirts. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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'

My sister had them done at a local company. I'll ask her if they have a website or if she has a phone number! She said they were a reasonable cost.

The trip sounds wonderful! I'm jealous even tho we just got back from our 3 weeks away from home and home never felt so good. LOL! I hope your trip is every bit as incredible as ours was.

The dresses your mom made totally rock! I love that stuff. If I thought I could pull it off I'd so wear cute dresses like that! Seriously. It's a good thing I didn't have girls because we'd be in the poor house with all the adorable stuff I'd be overspending on. LOL! Aside from the blinding awesomeness of the dresses I must say that your mom is quite talented. And she smocks?! Ugh! My grandmother talks about way back in the day when she and my great-grandmother made smocked dresses for my aunts. Her hands are so drawn and crippled by arthritis now there's no way she could do it anymore. **sigh** Yet another thing I wish I'd known to take the time to sit with her and learn years ago when I could have. Then she and Grampa coulda taught me how to waltz.

Y'all have fun! Can't wait to see all the pics and hear all about the adventure! :wave:

Whew! It has been a crazy, cold - jam packed 3 days!

First, I'll start where we left off - We departed from the La Quinta in Valdosta, Georiga (which I highly recommend!) around 9 am eastern time.


We got to Orlando and the WDW gates at around lunch time. We stopped to eat at a local place my sister wanted to try and then after a stop at Wal Mart, we headed to Pop to check in! We arrived at 2:00, made it to the check in desk by 2:10.

They were handing out cookies to people standing at the desk, and people standing in line. I should have known that it wasn't a good sign, but I've never had trouble checking in before, so I wasn't expecting any this time. Well, WDW has a new software system and it was working SLOWLY. It took us AN HOUR (no joke an HOUR!) to check in! My feet literally hurt from standing at the desk to check in. Now keep in mind that was 3 rooms checking in, but still, an hour? They apologized of course, but it wasn't the CM's fault, it was the new software. Crazy stuff! I mention this, so that those who will be visiting WDW soon, know to expect a potentially long check in.

Either way, we finally got our Keys to the World, my brother and his girlfriend arrived on the Magical Express, and we were off to Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic! We got to DHS at 5:15 and headed straight for the Fantasmic theater.

We got great seats:




It wasn't easy keeping 4 kids entertained for just over an hour. It also wasn't easy convincing 4 Fantasmic "newbies" that the show would be worth the wait, but soon it was time for the show to begin......


and Fantasmic quickly showed them that it was worth their time!




Right after Fantasmic ended, everyone was starving and freezing, so we headed to ABC Commissary, because it was the only indoor seating Counter Service I could think of that would be open at around 7:30 at night. It wasn't anything to write home about, but we got a good meal and headed for the bus stops.

When we got to the bus stops it was PACKED!!!!


I don't know if it was because it was a Fantasmic night or if it's just this way every night, but it was scary crowded. Pop Century was Bus Stop 9, (I think?) well the line for Bus Stop 9 started at Bus Stop 7! And there was also a line for Bus Stop 8 (Animal Kingdom Lodge) that started at Bus Stop 7. So people were walking (really they were fighting their way through the crowd) up to Bus Stop 9, only to be told "Hey! The line starts way back there!" and then fighting their way back to 7. Then some people were realizing they were in the line for stop 8, when they *thought* they were in line for stop 9..... etc. etc.

I seriously thought that someone might throw a punch a couple of times.

The worst part? NOT ONE SINGLE CAST MEMBER IN SIGHT. Not one. What's up with that? I always see people directing the bus lines at Magic Kingdom - why not DHS? Anyone know?

Anyway, we were fine, but a lot of others were angry and frustrated and I felt bad for them.

We got back to Pop, and called it a night!

Next up - Epcot Day 1!

sweetpee_1993 said:

The trip sounds wonderful! I'm jealous even tho we just got back from our 3 weeks away from home and home never felt so good. LOL! I hope your trip is every bit as incredible as ours was.

The dresses your mom made totally rock! I love that stuff. If I thought I could pull it off I'd so wear cute dresses like that! Seriously. It's a good thing I didn't have girls because we'd be in the poor house with all the adorable stuff I'd be overspending on. LOL! Aside from the blinding awesomeness of the dresses I must say that your mom is quite talented. And she smocks?! Ugh! My grandmother talks about way back in the day when she and my great-grandmother made smocked dresses for my aunts. Her hands are so drawn and crippled by arthritis now there's no way she could do it anymore. **sigh** Yet another thing I wish I'd known to take the time to sit with her and learn years ago when I could have. Then she and Grampa coulda taught me how to waltz.

Y'all have fun! Can't wait to see all the pics and hear all about the adventure! :wave:

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3 weeks? You went for 3 weeks?
I want a trip report pronto!

Yes- smocks, sews, super talented. Too bad I never learned! But I'm thankful I have her!

Friday morning - Epcot, bright and early!

We arrived before park opening (which was at 9)


And headed toward the rope for Soarin. My sister managed to squeeze up to the rope with my niece who thinks Mickey hung the moon (many thanks to the nice British couple who let them in!) and they had some great interaction with the characters before the rope dropped. No pictures though, because I didn't want to be rude and squeeze in with them.

Then we were off toward Soarin!

(Am I the only one who feels something like a cattle, when we're being "hearded" toward Soarin at rope drop? :lol

We weren't the front of the line, but Soarin was almost walk on. Almost time to fly!


I think we were 2 seconds into Soarin when my oldest niece turned to my sister and said, "Momma, I love Soarin! Can we ride it again?" :sohappy:
The only one who didn't like it was my daughter who also rode for the first time since she has never been tall enough before. Turns out that my little princess is not a big thrill ride girl!

After Soarin, we got Fastpasses since everyone (but my daughter) wanted to ride again. And then we rode Living with the Land.


Am I crazy, or is this water garden new? I don't remember it from before....



The sign says "Water Lily All parts edible"

Next, it seemed to make sense to visit the Seas.

Nemo:




Turtle Talk with Crush:


Then we headed back to The Land for lunch!

My first experience with Sunshine Seasons. It was AMAZING!!!

Kids meals (sorry to have 2 blurry pics! but I was single parenting at this point in the trip, so photos were priority #2, priority #1 was keeping up with the kiddos!) They both got the chicken leg. One got potatoes, one got rice. Both got the chocolate pudding cup.



My meal - I got the Spicy Cashew Chicken with noodles and broccoli. Yummo! And Strawberry Shortcake for dessert! Many thanks to all who recommended the Strawberry Shortcake! It rocked!!!!


On our way to Spaceship Earth, we ran into Chip and Dale.



Spaceship Earth - it is what it is- a great classic ride. I know it's not everyone's favorite, but I love the "movies" at the end. Crack me up every time!



After Spaceship Earth, everyone was dragging, so we headed back to Pop for a power nap.

Recharged, we hopped a bus to the MK and then a monorail to the Grand Floridian for our dinner reservations.

While we waited to be paged, we did a little shopping. Found some resort merchandise in a small shop on the first floor:


We had to wait a looooooooong time to be seated. We checked in 45 minutes early and were seated almost 20 minutes after our reservation time. But in true Disney fashion, we were treated to those "glow cups" for the kids and a specialty drink for everyone in our party (of 12!). Totally awesome.

We also got to enjoy Holiday Wishes out of the windows. A great dinner all around!







And that's it for Friday!

Next up: our adventures today..... an exhausting trip around the World!

erstwo said:

We leave tomorrow around lunch and will arrive at WDW mid morning Thursday! The plan is to hit up Hollywood Studios for Fantasmic (if we don't freeze to death! ) that night.

The next few days are dictated by ADR's - Epcot, Epcot, and then the MK on Sunday, the next 7 days we will play it by ear! Woo Hoo for 10 days at Disney!

If you're headed down this week (or already there) be sure to say hello! if you see me, because (repeat after me......) I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button..... I WILL be wearing my WDW magic button (unlike the other trips I've forgotten it!)

Lastly, also starring in this trip report will be the outfits my mom has made for my kids and my nieces. She doesn't do this for a living, she just does it for fun, but for those of you who might be interested in similar outfits, I recommend Etsy.com, specifically the shop "Everything Abigail" for applique and " MissTinaSmocking" for smocked dresses.

Some of the outfits my mom has made (in TRIPLICATE! - there are 3 granddaughters on this trip!)

There will also be matching family tshirts :xmas: Heaven help us all - yes, we will be "that" family! This is my parent's, sister's and brother's first trip since 1995 (back when there were trees in the MK hub!) so they are just a *tiny* bit excited. Which may or may not have resulted in matching tshirts :lookaroun I can't wait for the look on their faces when we round that corner and see the castle! It's my #1 moment I'm looking forward to!!!

"See" you all tomorrow!! :wave:

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Oh my gosh, I want your mom to join my family! Those outfits are so stinkin cute...especially the first one.

LOVING THE TRIP REPORT!
Those outfits are adorable!

erstwo said:

3 weeks? You went for 3 weeks?
I want a trip report pronto!

Yes- smocks, sews, super talented. Too bad I never learned! But I'm thankful I have her!

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Oh no! LOL! The boys and I were gone for 3 weeks with just 10 of the nights being at WDW! We spent time at my Gramma's on the way and the week after Disney at my parent's house for Thanksgiving. LOL!

I've worked on typing text for my TR for about 15 hours today. Literally. I started typing at 11 yesterday morning. At 9:00 tonight the boys asked if I'd order them a pizza. Next time I looked up it was almost 2 a.m. Insane! And I'm not even half done!

erstwo said:

Friday morning - Epcot, bright and early!

We arrived before park opening (which was at 9)

And headed toward the rope for Soarin. My sister managed to squeeze up to the rope with my niece who thinks Mickey hung the moon (many thanks to the nice British couple who let them in!) and they had some great interaction with the characters before the rope dropped. No pictures though, because I didn't want to be rude and squeeze in with them.

Then we were off toward Soarin!

(Am I the only one who feels something like a cattle, when we're being "hearded" toward Soarin at rope drop? :lol

We weren't the front of the line, but Soarin was almost walk on. Almost time to fly!

I think we were 2 seconds into Soarin when my oldest niece turned to my sister and said, "Momma, I love Soarin! Can we ride it again?" :sohappy:
The only one who didn't like it was my daughter who also rode for the first time since she has never been tall enough before. Turns out that my little princess is not a big thrill ride girl!

After Soarin, we got Fastpasses since everyone (but my daughter) wanted to ride again. And then we rode Living with the Land.

Am I crazy, or is this water garden new? I don't remember it from before....

The sign says "Water Lily All parts edible"

Click to expand...

Yes, it's just like being herded cattle when they walk you to Soarin'. I hate the stampede.

And, yes, the water garden thing is fairly new. I noticed it and was't sure so I asked our Behind the Seeds guide who confirmed it was. Pretty, isn't it?

Can't wait for more!!!!:wave:

Loving the TR and the clothes too The top with the smocking is adorable! Can't wait to read more! There's going to be another front coming through and it's supposed to cool down even more over the next few days...so stay warm. I saw they're expecting a low of 29 on Tuesday Wed nt has a low expected of 36- just can't wait for MSEP and Wishes in those temps. We'll be there on Tues- who knows- we may also run into each other. :wave:

Hello All!

Sorry I gave up on the trip report "Live" aspect! We were having too much fun and my husband kept hogging the internet cord during the few hours we were in the room and awake.

I'll get to posting the last 8 days later tonight/ tomorrow morning, but for right now, a few observations:

Major (and I mean MAJOR) problems with Disney's new "system" they implemented at the beginning of the month. We arrived on the 2nd and it took us an HOUR AND TWENTY minutes to check in! Mind you, that was for 3 reservations, but we honestly stood at the checkin counter so long, my feet hurt - I'd been sitting in the car for 4 hours, so there's no way I should be standing so long my feet hurt while checking in! I should have known by the Cast Member walking around giving out free cookies that we were in for a looooong wait, but I've never had a check in that lasted longer than 15 minutes before! Even with 3 reservations that equals 45 minutes, not double that!
In addition, when I forgot my Key to the World card in my room one morning at Hollywood Studios, Guest Services was not able to issue me another one because the whole system was down. At 9:30 in the morning. When all the parks were already open. I'm sure that was thrilling for everyone involved with that at Disney! :lookaroun The CM at Guest Relations tried for 20 minutes to issue me a new one with no luck. I'm just glad I'm not in Guest Services at Disney right now. Plus, I'm sure this new system cost millions, so I bet the higher ups at Disney aren't exactly thrilled right now either.

Also, the monorail had a major breakdown one day while we were there. More on that later, but it was a nightmare for almost everyone at Epcot and Magic Kingdom that whole day. People were hours late for dinner reservations, boats and busses were on overload. It took people 2+ hours to get back to their resorts, etc.

On the positive side - We had a WONDERFUL time!!! :sohappy: All the Cast Members were awesome and we have a lifetime of family memories from the World!

See you all "later!"

Ok, dinner is in the oven.... so I'll begin Day 3 - Saturday, December 4

Today was World Showcase Day -

Since the WS opened at 11, we decided to sleep in. Of course the kids were up at 7, but the adults tried to sleep as much as we can with Playhouse Disney in the background! The day before we had arrived early, left for a nap, and returned later in the day for our dinner reservations. Looking back, we should have done the same thing this day, but there was no way to know that we would hit our first "Disney wall." And we thought 5 hours in the park before dinner at Akershus would be no problem.

We arrived around 11:00 and the crowds were still streaming into the park. It was crazy.



We had missed 2 of the big rides the day before, so we headed straight to Test Track for Fastpasses. The stand by line was only about 30 or 40 minutes.


While we waited the whole 15 minutes for our Fastpasses to be valid :lol:, those who were brave enough went on Mission Space:



Then it was time for our Test Track Fastpasses!



Now a funny story, that is probably only funny if you were there AND are a member of our family, BUT I'm going to tell it because it sets up one of my favorite picture series that will come later in my trip report.

My mom isn't much of a thrill ride person. She would have gladly sat out every ride but Peter Pan and Winnie the Pooh if it wasn't for the Grandchildren. When we got to Test Track I told my mom "it's really not that bad, Mom. You stop and start, go over some bumps, up a few hills and then at the end you go really fast outside. But it's no different than riding in my old convertible. You don't go much over 70, like on the interstate." Which is what the ride is like, right???? Since both the 4 year olds were riding, she decided to ride.

Well, my mom didn't see it as a non thrill ride. I was in the car in front of my mom but my sister was in the car with my Mom and Dad. When my sister got off the ride she was laughing so hard I thought she wasn't going to be able to walk. We finally made it down the ramp into the car showroom and my dad told me that my Mom did NOT consider Test Track to be a mild ride. She evidently had a death grip on the bar in front of her the entire time with her head down between her arms, and my sister said (between laughs) that she kept yelling, "Somebody lied to me!!!!" over and over on the open track section.

Well, then I was laughing so hard I couldn't walk. Honestly, I laughed so hard my sides hurt. We all laughed so hard we cried. It was great. A moment we'll never forget. Well, needless to say, "Somebody lied to me!" became our trip catchphrase. Classic.

Well, after we all stopped laughing, we headed toward the World Showcase for some lunch. We stopped at the new Cantina in Mexico and it was packed!



And for good reason. The food was soooooo good! :slurp:



I'm sorry there's a bite out of one of my tacos, but it was so good I forgot to take a picture first! The chips came with the cheese dip you see pictured and inside the other cup is the Pico that came with my order.

Dessert was yummy too! Also, I ordered for my kids and husband first and then got my food, so I don't have a picture of my kids food, but they had chicken Tenders (actual Tenders, not nuggets) that came with chips and cheese dip. I know some people prefer the Tenders for their kids, so I thought I would point out that they serve them here!

Then we walked across the way, into the Mayan temple and picked up our Duffy the Disney Bear Kidcot Stop thingy.



Then we were off on a trip with The Three Caballeros.