A big trip deserves a big report...lots of big pics, too

Another giant family trip has come and gone. 10 months of planning and organizing have resulted in an even bigger and better trip than last time.

In 2006, my wife, son and I invited other family members to join us on our trek to Walt Disney World. My mom and dad, brother and his two sons joined us for that trip, and the report can be found in several parts on this very board.

So, the 2008 trip included the same cast as before, but this time we added my other brother, his wife and three year old daughter, a family friend and her 9 year old daughter… 13 happy folks in all. It took a lot of planning and several family trip meetings, but we got it all done.

DAY 1 – Sunday January 13, 2007 - Travel Day and Magic Kingdom

Other than the fact that I had bronchitis and my son was sick as well, everything starts out great. Our flight doesn’t leave until 8:40 am from Denver International, so we all get plenty of sleep. We are set to arrive into Orlando at 1:50 pm local tine, so we will have plenty of time to get a bite to eat at Pop Century and then off to Magic Kingdom for some evening EMH. What could possibly go wrong…ha ha. Well, for one, when we pull into the parking lot at the airport, I can’t find my drivers license…anywhere! I just about freak out. I look on the floor, between the seats…I am freaking out at this point. My wife finally finds it in the belt bag. I just about want to die. An almost tragic beginning to the trip.

Our flight leaves on time, and all is going well. I am listening to the in-cabin radio of the air traffic, and hear there is a problem in Orlando. A tornado was spotted near the field, and a monster rain storm is slowwwwllly moving through the area. We circle for a while before our pilot decides to get us to Jax for some fuel. We set at a gate for an hour, but the pilot opens the cockpit for kids to have their picture taken. My brother takes my niece up front for the photo op, and soon we are on our way again. As we are ready to take off, we are treated to the site of 8 F-15 Eagles taking off right next to us. It was pretty cool.

We get to Orlando, then on the DME bus and make it to Pop Century by 6:00 pm…a little later than it was supposed to be, but all is good. The weather has moved on and we get some food in the café and then get on the bus for Magic Kingdom.

We arrive just as Wishes is ending, and the crowds are pouring out. Good stuff, indeed. We plan on getting to Space Mountain fast to ride, but end up stopping and taking plenty of pictures of the castle at night, and then stopped again at Laugh Floor because nobody is in line. I was curious to see if it was as bad and uninteresting as some people have claimed. It wasn’t. We all thought it was fantastic…probably because three of us were highlighted in the show. I was unaware I could burp out the alphabet, but there my picture was on the big screen saying I could. My niece got to play the part of “Boo”, and one of my nephews got his joke told at the end. Now we could go to Space Mountain, and we rode it twice as there was no wait. We made our way over to Adventure Land, but stopped for some more castle picks. We wanted to do Pirates to see the changes, but first had to stop and get the first of many Dole Whips. I was daring and got the pineapple vanilla swirl float. Oh, man…was it the greatest! We rode Pirates (awesome, awesome, awesome changes). My wife got the coolest hoody in the shop there, and then we stopped and rode the Jungle Cruise on what happened to be the last boat of the night. It was 11:00 already. We walked real slow out of the park, and had several CM’s standing at the exit with the goodbye signs and big Mickey hands. It was a perfect ending to the park.

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Our chariot awaits

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Waiting at Pop to go to MK

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Ahhh...pretty

More to come.
 

Timmay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY 6 – Disney Hollywood Studios – Friday January 18, 2008

The weather was supposed to be the same today as it was yesterday, but although it looked the same, it was much colder. I make my fist mistake of the day and don’t dress as warm as I should, thinking it will warm up as the day goes on.

We get to the park before opening again, but the lines are long…real long. It is a mad dash up Hollywood and then down Sunset Blvd. as the gates open. We are able to get onto Tower of Terror pretty quick, but when we exit, the wait is about 30 minutes. We figure a way to grab FastPasses for both ToT and RnR at the same time for the ones that want to ride (don’t ask), and then head over to The Great Movie Ride.

My mom just loves this ride. I always enjoy seeing her face while we are ridding. There was no wait (of course not, everyone was back at ToT and RnR), and we walked right on and I took some video for my mom to have later. We return to Sunset Blvd and get the two big rides out of the way for this morning. The picture of my real tough brother on the rides again showed him with eyes closed and mouth open. This time he is sneezing, he says. The big baby.

We decide to all split up again and go our own way, since it is really starting to get busy and may be easier to tackle the park in small groups. It doesn’t take more than 15 minutes for all 13 of us to run smack into each other again in front of Star Tours. A few of us waited outside…I skip this little beauty because it always seems to make me want to puke. The weather is getting a little worse…colder and the mist is turning into rain. I head inside the Star Tours gift shop to try and find warm clothing. I don’t find any hoodies that I like and I see the rest of our group exit the ride.
I am hungry by now…it is only 11:00, but I think we may have a shot at getting into Sci-Fi Dine In. And no, we do not have ADR’s (stop laughing). I ask the folks if they can get 13 of us in. They look at me like I have grown a third eye, but then they say “Sure, you will have to set under the UFO’s though.” I tell them I would sit on the floor if need be, but pretty soon we are all sitting in the back of the drive in, munching on our wonderful food.

After lunch, we really do split up this time. We head for the back lot, and I see they still have all of the Christmas lights up. We got a quick look at Lightning McQueen and Mater, but it was too crowded, and then we decide to get out of the rain and do the Backlot Tour. We have seen this decline in entertainment value over the years, but I want to sit down and be dry for a while. I got some nice pictures and video of Disaster Canyon and when the ride was over, everyone was ready to meet up and see the afternoon parade. I was too cold at this point and I needed to get some warm clothes. My wife and son headed over to ToT to see if they could get us each a FastPass before the day was over, but it was so crowded, I figured they would all be gone for the day. By the time my wife called to say there were in fact no FastPasses left, Hollywood Blvd was closed and they were stranded on the other side from me.
I ended up not having to fight a single person in the store, and I took my time doing some warm hoody shopping. I finally decided upon the Black Tigger one, and left the store just in time to see the end of the parade. We rounded everyone up and I saw my niece had slept through the entire parade…so sad. I was a little warmer now, so we got some ice cream over at Gertie’s and half of us headed over to Light Motors Action. The rain had stopped and we had a really good time watching the stunt show. It was 5:30 by now, and I was so cold, wet and tired I really had no interest in seeing Fantasmic. My wife and son wanted to stay with my brother and his family to see it, but everyone else was ready to head out. It was so busy that day; people were shoulder to shoulder on most of the streets. I hadn’t seen it that way ever this time of year. (We found out later there were several things going on that weekend at WDW: a cheer/dance competition and a soccer tourney). I really didn’t want to miss Fantasmic, as I had already missed Illuminations earlier in the week, but I was starting to feel bad again. I was heading out of the park with my parents when my wife called, said she forgot her wallet in the backpack and needed me to meet up with her. I told my parents to go on a head and I would catch up at the bus. When I saw my wife, my heart broke in two. She looked so sad and down. She said she knew I wasn’t feeling well, but seeing Fantasmic without me wasn’t going to be any fun, especially since this was our last day at a Disney park. I told her I would stay, and she clapped and cheered.
We camped out in the back row for the show, got some hot chocolate, popcorn and other stuff and had a great time. The weather actually got a little better, and when Fantasmic was over we waited for the crowds to clear. The six in our group were actually the very last ones to leave the theater. DHS was totally empty. I got to take some really good pictures. I was lying down on the ground and doing everything to get some really nice shots. The CM’s were really cool about it and never made us feel rushed, even when all the shops were closed.
Back at Pop, we realized we never had dinner, so we got ourselves a big pizza and ate it on our beds. It reminded us of the first time we had come with our son when he was 7.

Overall, it was a pretty good day. The middle of the day got cold and rainy, but I am super glad I stayed to the end. It was a different experience to see the park empty. The crowds were bad for this time of year, but we managed to get the big rides done early.

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Timmay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY 8 – Sea World and Magic Kingdom – Saturday January 19, 2008


We awaken to find the day a little warmer…but foggy. I mean real foggy. I love foggy days, so as long as it was a bit warm, I was good.
The vans picked us up right on time out in front of Pop again, and it was a short ride to Sea World. So short in fact, there was nobody there other than us. We geared up and went to the entrance, where we waited…and waited, and waited. They must have felt sorry for us because they finally let us in, even though nothing was open. Again, I found it pretty cool to be in a park with nobody else. Eventually, the people start to wander in, and we end up at the dolphin cove feeding the dolphins. We move from there to feeding the rays, and then make our way to see Clyde and Seamore (there is a great mime before the show). The fog was still as thick as can be, and we could barely see The Kraken from the theater, but notice a train go by every 5 minutes or so. After the show, we take out time getting to Believe, hitting everything we see, the penguins, sharks, we soak it all up.
Believe was the highlight of Sea World. I won’t lie, a lot of us left misty eyed. There was a wonderful tribute to our current and former men and women in uniform before the show, and Believe itself was very inspirational. We had a surprisingly good lunch at Mango Joe’s, and then took a nauseating helicopter flight to the arctic.

I was looking forward to this the most. I was eager to see Klondike and Snow, our old polar bear friends. There are plenty of news stories out there about the brother and sister and how they captivated us all in Denver, and my wife and I spent several months watching the twins grow up at the Denver Zoo back in 1995. Alas, all I got was one glimpse of a sleeping polar bear. Oh, well. It brought back some good memories. We were taken with the walruses swimming beneath the water, how graceful they were in water for their size, and how much fun they were having. Our next stop let the kids play for a while in the kids area, and then continue on to Blue Horizons. This was another exceptional show, and I must admit that all the shows at Sea World are done right and are on par, if not better, than anything I have seen elsewhere.

The weather clears up a bit, and after we see the manatee rescue, my wife and sister-in-law decide they are going to try and get on Kraken. I would have made the trip back over there if Atlantis was open as well, but it was closed. The rest of us decided to troop on over near the entrance of the park and stop by a bakery we saw earlier. They had these gigantic stuffed cookies which looked too good to pass up. We sit and enjoy our food and drink, and I notice just how busy the park has gotten. We are in the same spot we were when we were here by ourselves in the morning, but I hardly recognize it due to the huge crowds. My wife called and said the Kraken went down right as they were ready to ride, so they are not waiting and going to head back. We decide we would like to call it a day, thinking we can get back in time to make it to Magic Kingdom to see Wishes again and the second Spectromagic. The vans pick us up right away and we are back at Pop before we know it. I realize I never even picked up a souvenir from my first trip as an adult to Sea World.

Back at Pop, the weather has changed. The wind has picked up and it is now pouring. I turned on the TV and see there is a tornado warning, severe thunderstorm warning and 60-70 mph winds…cool, exactly like a June evening in the foothills of Denver (serious). Everyone else wimps out on us, but my wife, son and I decide we are going to get in one last bit of magic before we leave in the morning. It was still raining pretty good, but no wind, so we got the boy a poncho and headed for the buses. It was 7:50, and we were the only ones to get on the bus after a soaked, standing room only crowd piles off.

When we entered the Magic Kingdom, people are leaving by the thousands. It is difficult to find our way in without getting swept up in the people going the other way. We are finally able to get inside the park, and my son announces he is too cold to stay. I give him my jacket, and he says he is good to go…but now I am soaked. We go stand in line at a store on Main Street and get me a poncho. When we get outside…oh, you guessed it, the rain had stopped. I am not too upset, because I see the park is pretty much empty, and we have two and a half hours of time left.
We hit Stitch first, and I am not sure why we decided to go on this since I wasn’t too keen on it from our last trip. But I am glad we did, because it was more fun than I remember. We then just kind of hang around Tomorrowland…not really doing anything, just enjoying ourselves. I wanted to do Philharmagic again since we only saw it once on our day here, and we end up going on it twice in a row. The real small crowd was so enthusiastic, cheering at all the scenes and having a good time. It made one of my favorite attractions so much better.

Off to Haunted Mansion for a couple of more rides, my son rode with me for the first time on this so I got to point out some of the new and cool stuff to him. It is then time for a stop off at Pirates one last time, and then it is over. Just like that, we have been on our last attraction of the trip. We stopped in front of the castle to have our picture taken as a family, and once again we are some of the last to leave the park for the night. I took one last glance at the castle and then we left (gut wrenching, huh).

Back at Pop, we get a couple of meatball subs and eat them on the bed. As nice as it would seem, I am sad I get to sleep in the next morning.

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rshell68

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the great report! Definately going to have to try the rice krispie treat from Goofy's that looks awesome! And if we end up going to Sea World that cookie looks to die for.
 

wvugeoggrad

New Member
Great TR!!! I love going to the parks when its raining bc most of the people leave. If your willing to get a little wet its totally worth it! :)
 

Timmay

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Thanks, I am glad you all enjoyed it. I just got all the other pictures from my family, so I will post some of the better ones this weekend.
 

sissa216

Well-Known Member
I just found this report. It is great!
Nice detail and pictures.
Your family looks like they really have a good time together!
 

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