Okay, I'm heading the World in 10 days, and thought I'd do a pre-trip post. (I've lurked here for a while, and didn't remember even registering, but apparently I did!)
My first trip to Disney World was late 1971. My dad had decided he was fed up with getting stuck in the snow, so we packed up our huge family (9 kids at the time) and moved to Florida. It didn't last long, as shortly after we hit Florida Dad pulled over to look at a map. Unfortunately, he pulled over on the side of a grapefruit orchard. Sand. Sand everywhere. The trucks and vehicles that work in those orchards have slightly under-inflated tires to get around easier, or so I remember being told. We were in a remodeled school bus, with regular tires.
Yep. He left Connecticut to avoid getting stuck in the snow and ended up in Florida stuck in the sand.
After a few weeks, my parents decided they hated Florida and we moved back north. But before we went, Dad took us all to a "new amusement park" in Orlando. We parked our bus at the Fort Wilderness campground and went to Walt Disney World.
I was pretty young at the time, but I remember going on the Speedway, and meeting Peter Pan. I remember having tickets for rides. There was also a marching fife and drum band that chose me and my brother and dressed us up in colonial costumes and had us march with them. Cool to look back on now, but terrifying for a shy kid. And I went away with a mad crush on Peter Pan, and looking back now I realize it probably was a young woman and not a boy my age like I assumed. Ah, well, a crush is a crush, and it doesn't matter!
I went back for the first time as an adult in the early 90's, and stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort. We went several times in the early 2000's, with a stay at Pop, one at All-Star Music, once at Coronado Springs and once at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
My husband told me after that that the next vacation we went on would have to be anywhere else as he was tired of Disney World (heresy, I know) Long story short, we never actually took another vacation.
The kids are grown now, and I am not. So in a week or so I'm taking my daughter and her best friend and we're driving down to Florida. And no, I did not ask my husband to go.
We're staying at Caribbean Beach Resort for 9 nights, and then 2 nights more at Royal Pacific in Universal. (We HAVE to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!)
I'm planning on leaving on a Sunday around noon and arriving Tuesday morning. I've been navigating the Fast Pass+ maze, and made dining reservations at a lot of places, since we were able to snag the Free Dining.
Every restaurant I made ADR's at is one I've never been to before, with the sole exception of Coral Reef. Daughter wanted seafood, friend wanted aquariums, so we combined the two. We have ADR's at Mama Melrose (Fantasmic! plan) Chefs de France, Restaurant Marrakesh, Jungle Navigation Ltd, Akershus Royal, Kona Cafe, Sanaa, and Jiko. We're also doing the tea at the Grand Floridian (not included in the dining plan, but it's something me and my daughter wanted to do way back when)
Well, that sounds like it's all about the food! It's not, there are attractions and rides that I've never seen or been on. Frozen Ever After, of course, and Expedition Everest. Soarin' will be new, and although RocknRoller Coaster was there last time, my doctor wouldn't let me ride it. This time I'm going to, although to make him happy I'll go for the Green side of Mission:Space.
Sad, though, that Big Thunder Mountain, it's a small world, and Dinosaur will be shut down while we're there. It's Rachel's first trip to Disney World, and no one should go without going on it's a small world!!
My first trip to Disney World was late 1971. My dad had decided he was fed up with getting stuck in the snow, so we packed up our huge family (9 kids at the time) and moved to Florida. It didn't last long, as shortly after we hit Florida Dad pulled over to look at a map. Unfortunately, he pulled over on the side of a grapefruit orchard. Sand. Sand everywhere. The trucks and vehicles that work in those orchards have slightly under-inflated tires to get around easier, or so I remember being told. We were in a remodeled school bus, with regular tires.
Yep. He left Connecticut to avoid getting stuck in the snow and ended up in Florida stuck in the sand.
After a few weeks, my parents decided they hated Florida and we moved back north. But before we went, Dad took us all to a "new amusement park" in Orlando. We parked our bus at the Fort Wilderness campground and went to Walt Disney World.
I was pretty young at the time, but I remember going on the Speedway, and meeting Peter Pan. I remember having tickets for rides. There was also a marching fife and drum band that chose me and my brother and dressed us up in colonial costumes and had us march with them. Cool to look back on now, but terrifying for a shy kid. And I went away with a mad crush on Peter Pan, and looking back now I realize it probably was a young woman and not a boy my age like I assumed. Ah, well, a crush is a crush, and it doesn't matter!
I went back for the first time as an adult in the early 90's, and stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort. We went several times in the early 2000's, with a stay at Pop, one at All-Star Music, once at Coronado Springs and once at Animal Kingdom Lodge.
My husband told me after that that the next vacation we went on would have to be anywhere else as he was tired of Disney World (heresy, I know) Long story short, we never actually took another vacation.
The kids are grown now, and I am not. So in a week or so I'm taking my daughter and her best friend and we're driving down to Florida. And no, I did not ask my husband to go.
We're staying at Caribbean Beach Resort for 9 nights, and then 2 nights more at Royal Pacific in Universal. (We HAVE to see The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!)
I'm planning on leaving on a Sunday around noon and arriving Tuesday morning. I've been navigating the Fast Pass+ maze, and made dining reservations at a lot of places, since we were able to snag the Free Dining.
Every restaurant I made ADR's at is one I've never been to before, with the sole exception of Coral Reef. Daughter wanted seafood, friend wanted aquariums, so we combined the two. We have ADR's at Mama Melrose (Fantasmic! plan) Chefs de France, Restaurant Marrakesh, Jungle Navigation Ltd, Akershus Royal, Kona Cafe, Sanaa, and Jiko. We're also doing the tea at the Grand Floridian (not included in the dining plan, but it's something me and my daughter wanted to do way back when)
Well, that sounds like it's all about the food! It's not, there are attractions and rides that I've never seen or been on. Frozen Ever After, of course, and Expedition Everest. Soarin' will be new, and although RocknRoller Coaster was there last time, my doctor wouldn't let me ride it. This time I'm going to, although to make him happy I'll go for the Green side of Mission:Space.
Sad, though, that Big Thunder Mountain, it's a small world, and Dinosaur will be shut down while we're there. It's Rachel's first trip to Disney World, and no one should go without going on it's a small world!!
