This is my first attempt at a trip report. Suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome. I really loved reading the details about what people did and ate while I was preparing for my trip, so I've tried to give lots of detail where applicable.
Anyway. Some background:
The Dates: September 25th through October 2nd.
The Players: Myself, 24, DH 25, and Dear Mother (DM) age unspecified
The Where: DH and I stayed at All Star Movies, and DM stayed at All Star Music
The Why: DM and I went this same week last year, and left the day before my birthday to come home. What a bummer that was, so to make it up to myself for leaving and forcing myself to come back to work ON my birthday last year, I booked this trip for the same week in 2005. I was really looking forward to spending my birthday week in the parks!
Plus, this was the first trip that DH and I had taken to WDW together. We’ve both been many times before, but never together. (We would have honeymooned here if it wasn’t for the ungodly heat and crowds the second week of July.)
So… here we go!
“Unbirthday” Day 1:
Woke up at some ridiculous hour. (4:00 AM!) Well, “woke up” is saying it nicely. I was too excited to sleep much that night. Were a little late getting to the airport but we did make it in time for our 6:30 AM flight. We were a little hesitant about using the Magical Express service, and we didn’t actually make up our minds until we were checking in our luggage. Be we decided to give it a chance, and sent our bags along with their little yellow tags on them.
The only issue we had with ME before we left was that for some odd reason they just refused to keep track of our returning flight info. It took several calls to straighten it all out.
Landed on time and headed right past the greeter with the gloves for the ME check-in. We were the first in line, showed our docs and headed onto a bus. The bus was only partially filled when we left the airport. I was a bit nervous that they would make us wait till it filled entirely... those busses can fit a lot of people!
Made a few stops before reaching the All Stars. DM got off at Music and her room was ready. Our preferred room wasn’t ready in time, so we headed over to DM’s room to drop off our carry-ons, and then it was off to EPCOT!
After picking up my Epcot birthday button, we headed straight for Soarin, the wait was about 30 min, and since I hadn’t eaten anything at that point all day, we grabbed FPs and ate lunch at Seasons. Before the trip I was sad that they had messed around with one of my favorite counter service places… now? What a great change! I’m not so fond of the sterile airport feeling of the place, but the food selection was wonderful!
Here’s where we got to try out the FREE Dining Plan for the first time. After a little confusion about what was a “combo meal” and what was just an entrée, we all selected our choices. DH and DM both got the Black Forest Ham and Salami Grinders. DH got a bag of chips, DM got a little container of Jicama Slaw. Both of them got a slice of Butterfinger Cheesecake.
I was more adventurous and got the Rotisserie Flatbread, and Key Lime Pie.
Both DH and DM raved about that sandwich for the rest of the trip. They both loved it, and after trying a bite of DH’s I had to admit that they had made the better choice. My beef was OK. The greens were a little wilted, and they had some dressing on them that was at first pleasant tasting, but soon developed a sharp aftertaste. The flatbread itself was wonderful, and I ended up leaving most of the greens on my plate and just eating that by itself. Both loved their cheesecake, but I, again, picked the wrong dessert. My key lime pie was just not mixed properly before baking. There were big swirls of mix left in the custard part, so upon biting into it I would get a really uneven taste, with one bite being too overpowering, and the next would taste like nothing.
By the time we finished eating, it was off to Soarin. I may be in the minority here, but I just wasn’t impressed. Maybe it was that I was all hyped up from the great reviews, I had really unrealistic expectations, but it was really disappointing. We even got really good seats, row B2, but I just wasn’t impressed. It was a nice ride, with lots of beautiful scenery, and the orange and pine smells were a nice touch, but I expected our seats to move more. I dunno. We all left a little disappointed.
Anyway. Some background:
The Dates: September 25th through October 2nd.
The Players: Myself, 24, DH 25, and Dear Mother (DM) age unspecified
The Where: DH and I stayed at All Star Movies, and DM stayed at All Star Music
The Why: DM and I went this same week last year, and left the day before my birthday to come home. What a bummer that was, so to make it up to myself for leaving and forcing myself to come back to work ON my birthday last year, I booked this trip for the same week in 2005. I was really looking forward to spending my birthday week in the parks!
Plus, this was the first trip that DH and I had taken to WDW together. We’ve both been many times before, but never together. (We would have honeymooned here if it wasn’t for the ungodly heat and crowds the second week of July.)
So… here we go!
“Unbirthday” Day 1:
Woke up at some ridiculous hour. (4:00 AM!) Well, “woke up” is saying it nicely. I was too excited to sleep much that night. Were a little late getting to the airport but we did make it in time for our 6:30 AM flight. We were a little hesitant about using the Magical Express service, and we didn’t actually make up our minds until we were checking in our luggage. Be we decided to give it a chance, and sent our bags along with their little yellow tags on them.
The only issue we had with ME before we left was that for some odd reason they just refused to keep track of our returning flight info. It took several calls to straighten it all out.
Landed on time and headed right past the greeter with the gloves for the ME check-in. We were the first in line, showed our docs and headed onto a bus. The bus was only partially filled when we left the airport. I was a bit nervous that they would make us wait till it filled entirely... those busses can fit a lot of people!
Made a few stops before reaching the All Stars. DM got off at Music and her room was ready. Our preferred room wasn’t ready in time, so we headed over to DM’s room to drop off our carry-ons, and then it was off to EPCOT!
After picking up my Epcot birthday button, we headed straight for Soarin, the wait was about 30 min, and since I hadn’t eaten anything at that point all day, we grabbed FPs and ate lunch at Seasons. Before the trip I was sad that they had messed around with one of my favorite counter service places… now? What a great change! I’m not so fond of the sterile airport feeling of the place, but the food selection was wonderful!
Here’s where we got to try out the FREE Dining Plan for the first time. After a little confusion about what was a “combo meal” and what was just an entrée, we all selected our choices. DH and DM both got the Black Forest Ham and Salami Grinders. DH got a bag of chips, DM got a little container of Jicama Slaw. Both of them got a slice of Butterfinger Cheesecake.
I was more adventurous and got the Rotisserie Flatbread, and Key Lime Pie.
Both DH and DM raved about that sandwich for the rest of the trip. They both loved it, and after trying a bite of DH’s I had to admit that they had made the better choice. My beef was OK. The greens were a little wilted, and they had some dressing on them that was at first pleasant tasting, but soon developed a sharp aftertaste. The flatbread itself was wonderful, and I ended up leaving most of the greens on my plate and just eating that by itself. Both loved their cheesecake, but I, again, picked the wrong dessert. My key lime pie was just not mixed properly before baking. There were big swirls of mix left in the custard part, so upon biting into it I would get a really uneven taste, with one bite being too overpowering, and the next would taste like nothing.
By the time we finished eating, it was off to Soarin. I may be in the minority here, but I just wasn’t impressed. Maybe it was that I was all hyped up from the great reviews, I had really unrealistic expectations, but it was really disappointing. We even got really good seats, row B2, but I just wasn’t impressed. It was a nice ride, with lots of beautiful scenery, and the orange and pine smells were a nice touch, but I expected our seats to move more. I dunno. We all left a little disappointed.