Baby It's Cold Outside - a 1/2-1/9 trip report

Welcome all to my trip report! This trip included a large cast and even a few first-timers. The cast includes: myself, my fiance, Jordan, Disneybird (my mother), my dad, Larry, my sister, Amanda, my brother-in-law, John, my nephew, Victor, my grandmother, 'Mamaw', my uncle, Norman, my aunt, Pam, my cousin, Jennifer, and her boyfriend, Jamie. Yeah, a lot of people. This was the first trip for Jordan, Victor, and Jamie. We started planning this trip a year ago after our first trip to Disneyland. So, we spent the past year brainwashing Victor and annoying Jordan with our incessant talk of all things WDW.

My trip actually started a few days earlier on 12/28 when I flew from Nashville to Baltimore to spend New Year's with Jordan's family. Jordan spent Christmas there with his family and this would be the last time that I would see my future in-laws before our wedding. Before he left we purchased a new camera, a Canon SX200 IS. He took the camera with him, and I kept the camera book with me to study up on our new camera. I was so excited to get to try out the functions on our trip. While we were in Maryland we stopped in H&M to do some shopping. I absolutely love H&M, and the closest one to me is 2.5 hours away. I made an incredibly smart purchase in buying 2 pairs of gloves for $4 (gotta love H&M) conisdering that freezing temperatures awaited us in Florida.

We left Baltimore on New Year's and breezed through security. I was so surprised at how quickly we got through. I expected tight security since it was New Year's and we would fly close to D.C. However, we were met with no lines and no problems, even though Jordan was tested for explosives after he accidentally left a Gatorade bottle in his backpack. We flew Southwest and found out that our flight had 75 empty seats on it. It was a nice and quiet 2 hour flight.

We landed in Orlando around 9:00 P.M. and went down to baggage claim. We had Magical Express reservations and got lost from baggage claim to ME. After we found ME, we checked in and got in line for Pop Century. Our bus ride was uneventful, and I couldn't see any excitement building on Jordan's face. It was for me, though. My parents met us at the ME drop off for Pop. Our room was in the 50's. Jordan and I headed down to the food court for a snack. I got a piece of the tye-dye cheesecake. It was wonderful! I was afraid of how the cheesecake red velvet combination would taste, but the red velvet had just enough of a subtle flavor against the cheesecake. We headed to bed after our snacks. The next morning we had to wake up really early. Jordan and I planned on going to Universal for the day. My dad was going to drop us off on his way to play poker in Tampa. He informed us that we would be leaving at 6:45. yay...

So, after this long introduction on with the trip and pictures!

 

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Awesome trip report.

Thank you so much!

1/7 Epcot and Chefs de France


Today the family woke up to spend our day at Epcot. We got into the parks close to opening and immediately headed to Soarin' to do stand-by and grab fastpasses.

Victor was just tall enough to go on, which was exciting. He loves airplanes and flying, but he didn't want to go on for some reason. Being the great family that we are we forced him, and he ended up loving it. :lol:

Afterwards, we went on the Land and had a boat to ourselves (the crowds were great today). I'm honestly not crazy about the Land, but my family enjoys it and Jordan liked it too.

We left the Land and headed to the Seas.

 

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We stayed to watch a dolphin demonstration.

 

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We were in there for a good hour, and it would have probably been longer if we didn't make Jordan leave.

We headed back to the Land to use our fps for Soarin'. After Soarin' my parents headed to the airport. My dad had to cut his trip early to fly to Texas on business. Jordan and I decided to stay and eat lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I'll admit that I only wanted to do this for the desserts.

Jordan ordered the fruit tarte.

I ordered the strawberry shortcake.

Both were delicious and a very good size.

Once again we headed back to the room for a quick nap. We didn't stay long because we had to get back to Epcot and explore the World Showcase.

I pointed out to Jordan how you can see Tower of Terror blend in with Morocco.

Since we had dinner reservations at Les Chefs de France that night, we started in Mexico. We decided to take our picture in every country, and lucky for you, you get to see them all.

 

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Mexico:

Norway:

Maelstrom was down, so we headed into the bakery. We both ordered the veiled maiden, my favorite. This was the only picture we got of it. I was on the phone with my mother. She was on her way to meet us with my grandmother.

I'll also add that this was the warmest day that we experienced while we were down there, a whopping 59 degrees. I can't complain though. The only real downfall was that we didn't want to stay out in the parks after dark.

China:

 

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We headed in to see Reflections of China.

 

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The acrobats were out as we left China, but they were almost done and it was nearly impossible to get a good viewing spot. So, we continued on to Germany and saw Snow White out and about.

Germany:

Italy:

 

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My mom and grandmother caught up with us by the time that we arrived at the American Pavilion. We had about 15 minutes until the next American Adventure show. Jordan wanted to go back to Norway to get some school bread. I told him that he wouldn't possibly have enough time. So, we got this picture for our America shot.

Well he took everyone else's requests in our group and headed back to Norway just as Voice of Liberty came out.

I have not heard them perform in a long time, and they were very good. So, after they finished, the parties with wheelchairs were allowed to go into the theater first. We brought up the rear of that group and no sign of Jordan. Then, everyone else came into the theater and still no sign of Jordan. He didn't get into the theater until they were dimming the lights to start the show. Well, he proved me wrong, but he did say that they almost didn't let him into the show.

Jordan told me that he didn't care for the American Adventure. He didn't like the cookie cutter version of our nation's past and that it definitely covered up any dark spots in our past. I understand his point, but he also understands that that isn't really the point of the American Adventure or any of the other videos shown in the other countries (hello, China).

 

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At this point, we headed back to Future World to go on Test Track. Jordan and I picked up fps from when we were in the park earlier. On our way we were stuck behind this group of people who moved so incredibly slowly and spread out in this line side by side. So, Jordan, being the aggravator that he is, started honking the horn on my grandmother's scooter. She was so embarrassed, but we all thought it was hilarious. Then, we decided to turn up her speed and let her loose.

Runaway grandma! :lol:

On a serious note, we didn't turn up her speed and let her wreak havoc on Epcot, but we wanted to.

Another shot of Tower of Terror:

We got into Test Track and immediately went to the pre-show room. It was absolute chaos! The doors were open on both sides and people were leaving as we were going inside. The doors behind us closed, but the doors in front of us stayed open. The preshow never started, and not a minute later the doors behind us opened and more people started piling in. Now, I've never had a problem with being claustrophobic, but it was making me uncomfortable. I have not been on this ride in about 4 years because I don't care for it too much. Jordan didn't either, so that takes care of that attraction for future visits. At this point, my mom and my grandmother were going to do some shopping and head out. I went into Mouse Gears and bought a vintage inspired Epcot shirt.

Jordan and I made our way back through World Showcase to see as much as we could before our ADRs. We still had about two hours before our ADRs and a lot of ground to cover. Maelstrom was back up so we got in line. The video wasn't showing, which was disappointing because I actually enjoyed the Norway film and wanted Jordan to see it.

The acrobats were performing in China, so we got there early enough to get a good spot. The downside was that we were stuck beside 4 college aged kids. It was two girls and two guys who were drinking, flirting, and cursing the whole time. I can ignore people like that most of the time, but they were throwing around one particular four letter word that was just really inappropriate especially around so many kids. Finally, a woman turned around and gave them a look to put the fear of God in them, and they left.

 

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On with our WS tour...

Japan:

Jordan was so excited to go to Japan. He loves all things Nintendo and couldn't wait to go see what was in the store. Plus, last year I sent him a picture of a Cloud figure from Final Fantasy, so he also wanted to see that.

Well, they didn't have the Final Fantasy figures anymore, but he was happy with seeing some samurai swords.

Morocco:

 

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Plus, last year I sent him a picture of a Cloud figure from Final Fantasy, so he also wanted to see that.

Did you get a picture of the Cloud figurine, and if so, can you post it?

I <3 FFVII.

 

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Did you get a picture of the Cloud figurine, and if so, can you post it?

I <3 FFVII.

Unfortunately, they no longer had the Cloud figurine when we went, and the picture that I sent to him last year was on my phone and it has long been deleted. Sorry!

We arrived in France with about 45 minutes before our ADRs for Les Chefs de France. I really wanted to see Impressions de France. I saw this for the first time on my last trip, and I loved it. The show didn't start for another 10 minutes, and since it is an 18 minute video I knew we would cut it close. We decided to wait anyways and headed into the perfume shop to waste time. After the film, we headed to Les Chefs de France to check in.

We were called back within a few minutes of checking it and were seated near the windows in the front of the restaurant. We were really hungry at this point and couldn't pass up some warm lobster bisque. We are so glad that we ordered this. It was delicious! Honestly this was one of the best things that we had on our entire trip. For entrees, I ordered the duck, and Jordan ordered the tenderloin. I always order the duck, and it doesn't disappoint either. Jordan also liked his steak. During dinner Illuminations started and we had a decent view from our seats. There were some street stands blocking our view, but we were able to see the fireworks. For dessert, Jordan ordered the crepe, and I ordered the profiteroles. I've ordered these before with no problem, but it was a bit too rich for me this time.

We the restaurant close to an hour after the park closed. We were disappointed that we didn't get the chance to finish exploring WS, but we still took pictures.

France (even though you can't tell):

the UK (still hard to tell):

and finally, Canada:

We were so cold by the time we got through the gates and so stuffed from dinner that we just wanted to get back to the room. We waited for the monorail, and an announcement came on that this was the last monorail run for the night. We were so happy that we caught it just in time. We got back to the room and quickly went off to bed for our last full day in the parks.

 

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1/8 DHS, Boma, and DTD

We woke up to yet another cold morning and headed to the bus for one last trip to DHS.

We had to wait until a second bus came around, but we didn't wait long and the second bus was pretty much empty.

We arrived probably 5 minutes after opening and headed to Midway Mania to grab fps. The fp time was already about 2 hours out. We went back across the park to ride RnRC. We grapped a child swap card, and Amanda, John, Jordan and I went to ride while mom watched Victor.

We met up with my mom and Victor in the gift shop. Mom was cracking up because while we were in there, Victor grabbed one of the purses that look like guitars and tried to play it. We actually managed to get him to do it again for us.

This kid is going to be a musician. Not only does he love to play instruments, but he tries to form a band every time he plays. He will hand someone a microphone, someone else a guitar, and he will take the drums.

It was mom's turn to ride using the child swap, and I was really surprised that Amanda and John took Victor while we rode with her.

 

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We headed to ToT from RnRC.

The next Beauty and the Beast performance was coming up, and Jordan and I stayed to watch it (another of Jordan's requests). We planned on meeting back up with everyone afterwards.

We enjoyed the show, but we did find the beast's roar to be comical. It was just a guy going, "RAWR!" while the beast flailed his arms. We understand that they probably have it this way so it doesn't scare little kids, but still it was funny to hear.

 

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I called my mom, and they were heading towards Star Tours to eat lunch at Backlot Express. We told them that we would meet them there. When we got there another Jedi Training Academy was going on. I stepped behind the viewing rope for 10 seconds to get one shot and before I could turn around a CM was there telling me that I had to leave. Oh well, it was worth it though.

After lunch, we headed back over for some more pictures.

At this point it was time to use our TSMM fps. I think it was just a few minutes past noon at this point, and the fps were going for 7:00 that night. It really surprised me because the park was not crowded at all.

Jordan beat me again, but just barely as far as I'm concerned.

Jordan and I split off from the group again to do some things around there that we wanted to do before we left. Our first stop was the Backlot Tour. I have not done this in a really long time. I don't have much of an interest in it, but after Jordan found out that it had the space craft from Flight of the Navigator, we had to go.

 

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After the Backlot Tour, we spent quite a bit of time in the Villains exhibit. Jordan loved it!

We left and headed to the Narnia exhibit. C. S. Lewis is Jordan's favorite author, and he was excited to learn that Disney had some things from the movie. Plus, I've never been through it either.

 

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It was getting late in the afternoon at this point, and I still wanted to go to One Man's Dream. Originally we talked about heading to Animal Kingdom after lunch to see Nemo the Musical and ITTBAB, but we just didn't have time to go before our 5:45 reservations at Boma. So, we decided to go to One Man's Dream, and then back to the room to meet up with everyone else.

This was my first time in One Man's Dream. The exhibit was neat, and we decided to stay to watch the video. Loved the video! Jordan even told me that he had a new respect for Walt Disney after going through the exhibit and seeing the film, which of course made me so proud.

We drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner that night at Boma. This was one of the only meals that we all ate together. I was really surprised to find Christmas decorations still up in the resort.

Dinner was great, as usual. I had the butternut squash soup to start off with, and it was delicious. The rest of the main course that I tried was also really good. Although, I was a little disappointed in the dessert selection this time. I was relieved that this was our last table service meal of the trip because I did not know how I was going to possibly eat another large meal for a long time. We headed back to the lobby to get some more pictures.

Jordan handed the camera to me to get a picture of him and John to start off their night o' fun. They went to Disney Quest that night as a Christmas present to Jordan, while my sister and I went to DTD to do some shopping.

 

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Amanda, John, Jordan, and I took their car to DTD. We parked over on West Side near DisneyQuest. The boys went off to play games, while Amanda and I walked to the Marketplace. Our first stop was the lego store. She wanted to look for some things for Victor, and I had nothing that I wanted in there. So, I just took pictures.

We went to Basin, the Art of Disney store, Tren-D, and World of Disney. I wish that I had a chance to go into the Basin store at the Grand Floridian. I like their selection of scents a lot better. I noticed some new paintings from the Haunted Mansion at the Art of Disney store. They were great, but there was a sign up asking people not to take pictures. I didn't. Then, I found out once we got back home that my mom actually bought the two prints that I liked so much. So, I can't complain.

We spent a lot of time at World of Disney. It was crowded, but the crowds were manageable. Disney has gotten a lot better with their apparel for women. I really liked the vintage Mickey shirts they had, and they even had scarves of the same material and design. It was nice to see a good selection. We also bought some vinylmations. She bought one, and I bought two. I ended up getting Big Al and the Jungle Cruise vinylmation. I wanted the Big Al one and was pleased that my selection paid off. She ended up with the Toontown vinylmation. I figured if we picked from the parks vinylmation series there was less chance for disappointment, and it worked.

Amanda and I went back towards West Side. It was really cold outside, and we had nothing to do but wait on the guys. I called Jordan and he told me that they would be about another hour and a half. We seriously debated jusy buying tickets into DisneyQuest to kill time and be indoors somewhere, but even though the tickets were half off at that point, we couldn't justify it. We also ruled out sitting in a restaurant somewhere and sharing an appetizer because we were still so full from dinner. So, we hopped in the car and let the guys know that they could take the bus back. They were fine with that as long as they got to stay and have their fun, which they had plenty of.

 

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1/9 Magic Kingdom

Well, this was it. Our last day in the parks, and it was only going to be a half day. The half-marathon was that morning. Plus, it was the weekend, so we were curious about the crowd level for today. We had so much that we wanted to do that we didn't want to have to deal with a weekend crowd. Well mother nature was on our side. The weather channel predicted a warm 36 degrees for the day.

We got there pretty late that morning and passed plety of marathoners on our way to the monorail. I felt so bad for them, but more power to them for running on this cold, rainy morning. At 10:00 we arrived at our first stop, Space Mountain. The park had already been open for an hour, but the wait time posted was only 5 minutes. So, we rode and walked right on the ride. In fact, we rode Space Mountain 4 times between 10:00-11:00, which included a bathroom break, a purchase of the on-ride photo, and a tour of the arcade. We were amazed at how empty this place was for a Saturday. I'll have to scan our on-ride photo into the computer. Mom rode with us 3 times, and each time we tried to do something different in our on-ride photo. So, she suggested one time that we all scream. The picture is really funny. Jordan looks like a bear. He went to purchase it, and they ended up giving us two because they thought that one printed out with 2009 at the top. They printed out another one before they even checked and made sure it had 2010 at the top. They both ended up with 2010 at the top. So, they were nice enough to give us two for the price of one. By the way, a lot of places with on-ride photo were offering two for one deals but not Space Mountain.

We ate lunch at Cosmic Ray's. As we were leaving, Amanda, John, and Victor came in to eat. Mom wanted to ride BTMRR. So, while they were eating, we went to Frontierland and took pictures on the way.

Jordan wanted a picture jumping in front of the castle. This was the best we could do:

 

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We arrived at BTMRR around noon and walked right onto a train. It was dead! We were towards the back and there was only one family in front of us. The rest of the train was empty.

Mom headed back towards Tomorrowland to meet up with Amanda, John, and Victor. I asked Jordan if there was anything else that he wanted to do over in this area, and he told me no. So, we headed back to Tomorrowland to get in one more ride of Space Mtn and go to the Laugh Floor. On the way, we did make some pit stops including HM and Snow White. I don't know why, but he wanted to ride everything in Fantasyland. Who knows, maybe he did that so he can say that he has done it once and won't have to do it again.

The thoughtful series: