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!

 

[lpet11984]

Anxiously awaiting to hear about your trip!

 

[popsicletrees]

1/2 Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios

The last time I went to US and IOA was around 4 years ago. Jordan has never been here either. I knew Jordan would probably like IOA a lot, so I purposely wanted to go here for our first day of vacation in order to have a full uninterrupted week of WDW. Nothing against Universal, but it just doesn't have the magic that WDW has.

My dad dropped us off at the Hard Rock Hotel at 7:30. Jordan and I walked around the lobby and headed downstairs for some breakfast at the Kitchen. We didn't want to spend a lot of money on breakfast, but we had a lot of time to kill. He ordered some eggs that came with potato cakes and bacon. I just ordered a side of ham and potato cakes. Breakfast was really nothing special, but we didn't spend a lot and it took close to an hour to eat. From there we took the walkway to IOA. It was a quick 5 minute walk. We picked up our tickets and walked in the gate. Now Universal's website and the gates had an opening time for 9:00. It was 8:40 when we went through the gates. I was expecting to be roped off at some point, but since we had nothing else to do I thought we could take some pictures until the park opened.

It was nice to see Hogwart's in the distance:

I only took two pictures until we noticed that people were on the Hulk. I checked the time and it was only 8:45, but who are we to complain if people are getting to ride early? Off to the Hulk we went. The Hulk is one of my all time favorite coasters. I love the beginning of the ride so much. While we were still seated at the end, we looked at each other and both had tears streaming down our face. It was so cold! Oh well the ride was worth the cold, the tears, and the snot because we got right back on. After the second time the line was getting longer and we had a lot of ground to cover that day. Our next stop was:

This is another favorite for me and ended up being Jordan's favorite ride of the day. We rode this twice in a row too before moving on.

We stopped in the Toon area and took some pictures under the signs.

I must say that I highly disagree with the second part of this statement: :lookaroun

We stopped by Dudley's to see if anyone was actually on it and there were. I don't particularly care for this ride, and Jordan never mentioned riding it, so on we went.

As we exited the Toon are we saw the Jurassic Park sign and heard the music. Jordan got so excited. He asked, "Is there a ride?"
"Yes, but it's a water ride?"
"Can we go on it?"
Against all better judgment, I caved. Pictures on the way.

Alright, well I caved on the Jurassic Park ride for 3 reasons: 1) this was his first time to US and IOA 2) I thought that perhaps they would turn the water levels down since it was so cold and 3) how can I say no to that face? I've only been on Jurassic Park once when IOA first opened. I remembered that I thought that it was pretty boring. It still is. The ride stopped for around 5 minutes around the stegasoraus section, and I think that ruined the ambiance for Jordan. When we got into the building with the raptors around us and a t-rex on the loose instead of looming danger music, we heard an employee over the loud speaker yelling, "Row 2, please put your camera away. Put your camera away row 2. I will stop the ride if you don't" After repeating this message about 3 times, Row 2 put his camera away. The ride was just a boat on a track after that. Let me say that I was wrong about reason number 2! They did not turn down the water levels, in fact they kept the water canons on! I ducked, but the top of my head was soaked! I know, what was I expecting, it is a water ride. I headed to the bathroom hoping to find a hand dryer to duck my head under. No such luck. I just had to tough it out.

 

[popsicletrees]

While I waited for my hair to dry we ducked into the Jurassic Park dinosaur fun center (I don't know the name obviously).

We left after 10 minutes and took some pictures at the back of the building.

We left the Jurassic Park area and headed accross the bridge for Dueling Dragons and missed the sign that we didn't need to cross the bridge. Oh well, we took some more pictures though.

Hogwart's looked great:

I wanted to go see Poseidon's Fury while we were here. I remember liking it from a previous trip.

Afterwards, we both agreed that it was kind of a waste of our time. The show I remembered had an old man as your tour guide, who turned out to be Poseidon. This time we had a bumbling assistant looking for the professor. Also, there was no water tunnel. I'm sure this requires a lot of upkeep, but this was such a cool part of the attraction. Disappointed and tired of being herded through tiny passages for the amount of people in there, we decided to go back to the Dueling Dragons.

 

[popsicletrees]

Dueling Dragons had a wait time posted of 20 minutes. We probably only waited about 15, but it was disappointing to be herded in between construction walls the entire time. I knew that the castle was closed off, but that was a great queu. We moved into the load area and there was nobody there directing traffic. There was a small opening in the ropes for the line to Ice. No one was veering off, and for once, we followed the crowd. It didn't take us long to realize the small opening was supposed to be the split in the line. So, we ducked under the wood divider and walked onto Ice. We had perfect timing with Fire, which made it all the better. By the time we exited the line was a little longer, and we decided not to wait again to go on Fire.

It was time for lunch, and we decided to head over to Seuss landing for lunch. I got another picture of the Hulk on the way.

 

[popsicletrees]

After lunch, we decided that we exhausted all that IOA had to offer for now and to head over to US. We also had to pick up the pace if we wanted to do everything in US that we wanted to do. We had ADRs for California Grille that night, and my uncle was going to pick us up at 6:45 to get back to WDW in time.

For our first stop we went into the "I Love Lucy" exhibit because well, I love Lucy.

It was interesting to read that the set for "I Love Lucy" was painted in different shades of gray to add depth and contrast on tv. I guess it makes sense considering that the tv audience would never know the difference, but I wonder how their live audience felt about it. After testing our "I Love Lucy" trivia knowledge and successfully getting Ricky, Lucy, Ethel, and Fred to California, we decided to hit up some of the attractions at US.

First up we went to the Terminator attraction. We were standing in the back of the room and were among the last people let in. Once the theater doors opened we had to go towards the front to find some empty seats. We found a row and as soon as we stepped into the row, a purse plopped down in the last seat. We didn't think anything of it and continued on down. As we were walking a little old woman scooted past us. She got to the first available seat in our row and looked behind her and saw that her group was not with her. So, she pushed right back on past us and plopped her purse down in the row in front of us and ran on to that row where people were already filing in. She pushed through them and all of the seats were taken up. Her group actually managed to get into the row ahead of that. So there goes the whole spectacle again, only this time that row filled up too. Now she was just standing in the aisle. Someone moved, and as soon as they stood up, there she goes again. By this point it was just funny to those of us watching.

I still have plenty more on Universal, but it is late. I will pick up again tomorrow.

 

[HollyBelle]

Great start! I'm curious to see how things work out with such a large group. And I hope you managed to get Jordan bit by the Disney bug before the trip was over! You're such a cute couple!

I agree with so many of your thoughts on IOA, especially regarding the Hulk, Spiderman and Dudley Do-Right. We'll be going there again soon (once Hogwarts/Hogsmeade opens up) and I might adopt your plan to go there on the first day so it doesn't interrupt the Disney magic for the rest of our trip.

Can't wait for more! :sohappy:

 

[tiaragirl]

Okay, you two are officially the CUTEST couple I have ever seen in my entire life.

Good TR, you're making me want coasters so bad! I loved Dueling Dragons/the Hulk when I rode them back in the day. Can't wait for more (and the Disney part!).

 

[disneygirl1]

Awesome report!!! You and Jordan have such a cute couple! I can't wait to read more!!! Hopefully heading there in December and planning on making our first visit t IOA just for the wizarding world of HP!!!

 

[Disneybird]

Well, now that Rachel has started her trip report, I'll tell a little about mine since I'm part of that big group.

My mother, husband and I arrived around 1 on New Years Day. After checking in at Pop Century, we ate lunch in the food court before going to our rooms. We got connecting rooms, and kept the door open between the rooms for the 2 nights we were there. Our rooms were located on the bottom floor next to the bowling pin pool. While this was a fine location for us, I wouldn't want to stay that close to the pool in warmer weather.

Our first day, we just relaxed. I borrowed a wheelchair and took my mom to Downtown Disney while my husband went to a brewery to "watch a bowl game". Downtown Disney was extremely crowded. So much in fact, that you could hardly shop in the World of Disney store. After trying to maneuver for a few hours, we got hot chocolate, and went back to the hotel.

We then met up with my brothers family at Beach Club where they were staying in the Villas, and decided to eat dinner at Cape May. Now I have eaten there before and loved it, but I have to say I probably won't go back. I'm not a seafood eater, but never had problems finding enough to eat at this restaurant, but not this time. Stations were consistently out of food, and the selection and quality was just not that great. Of the 7 of us that ate that night, only 1 person was happy with his meal. I have to say, it was the only meal I was disappointed with the entire week.

By the time we got back to Pop, it was time for Rachel and Jordan to arrive at the airport. So we walked around the resort a few minutes and then met the ME bus. I'm always glad to see her walk off that bus. I feel like I can finally catch my breath then.

 

[Disneybird]

Saturday morning came way too early. After seeing the others off to where they were going for the day, I went to get my mother breakfast, then we went to meet my brother and his family at AK.

We rode the Safari first, after obtaining fastpasses for Expedition Everest. There were not alot of animals out, and our guide said it was because it was so cold.

After riding EE, and watching A Bugs Life, we headed to Dinosaur. The wait was 40 minutes long, so we skipped it. I love to watch A Bugs Life with newbies, and get their reaction to some of the effects.

Deciding to eat lunch at Epcot, we left AK. Mom and I didn't do alot there because the cold was making her miserable. We went to my brothers BCV room, and relaxed awhile. By the way, I love the Beach Club.

Later, my brother and I went to the Hard Rock Hotel to get Rachel and Jordan. After dropping them off at Pop, the rest of us drove to Fort Wilderness to eat at one of my favorite restaurants on site, Trails End. As always, it was great. For anyone who hasn't been to FW around Christmas time, you should ride the bus through there one night, just to see the decorations some of the campers put up. Some of these people must pull an extra trailer along just to carry them.

 

[popsicletrees]

Great start! I'm curious to see how things work out with such a large group. And I hope you managed to get Jordan bit by the Disney bug before the trip was over! You're such a cute couple!

I agree with so many of your thoughts on IOA, especially regarding the Hulk, Spiderman and Dudley Do-Right. We'll be going there again soon (once Hogwarts/Hogsmeade opens up) and I might adopt your plan to go there on the first day so it doesn't interrupt the Disney magic for the rest of our trip.

Can't wait for more! :sohappy:

Things were interesting with a large group, especially with a 3 year old, but I will get to that. I am really glad that we went to US on the first day. It was nice to go and see and do everything on one day knowing that a week of happiness awaited us at Disney.

Okay, you two are officially the CUTEST couple I have ever seen in my entire life.

Good TR, you're making me want coasters so bad! I loved Dueling Dragons/the Hulk when I rode them back in the day. Can't wait for more (and the Disney part!).

Thank you so much! I will get to the Disney part very soon.

Awesome report!!! You and Jordan have such a cute couple! I can't wait to read more!!! Hopefully heading there in December and planning on making our first visit t IOA just for the wizarding world of HP!!!

Thank you! We both really enjoyed IOA, and it looks like HP will be a great addition.

Anxiously awaiting to hear about your trip!

Thank you!

 

[popsicletrees]

Just to add, be sure to read Disneybird's posts on here. She put some things up from their first two days at WDW, and I will get her to add more from the trip.

Continuing with US...

After the Terminator show Jordan and I continued walking through US. We went on E.T. and that ride is almost laughable now. It needs some serious work, and the animatronics in E.T.'s homeland looked horrible. Oh well, we can say that we went on it.

So on through Universal we went. Then, I saw it, what I really came to US to see:

The Simpsons is one of my all-time favorite shows. The wit, the satire, the characters - it's been a huge part of my life. Plus, my dad can be a Homer at times. I will admit that I stopped watching a few seasons ago because I think the writing has gone way down, but I was still so excited to go on this ride.

Before we went on Jordan took a picture of me walking into the Kwik-E-Mart.

It was around 2:45 by this point, and the wait time was posted at 60 minutes. It was definitely crowded in the park and we still had a lot of ground to cover in 4 hours, but I couldn't pass up this ride. While the queu was uneventful, they showed a video of Simpsons clips that was about 40 minutes long. So, that was nice to pass the time. Now the attraction itself was *with my best Burn's impression* excellent. We both agreed that it was well worth the wait for us.

Jordan wanted to do Jaws and I wanted to go on the Mummy before we left. We walked by Jaws and it had a 60 minute wait time posted too. I suggested that we walk over to the Mummy to see what the wait time was there. It was listed at 45 minutes. I suggested that we do that first since Jordan would probably like it more. We only waited for around 30, and that is also a really good ride.

It was around 5:00 by the time we got out of the Mummy. We walked back over to Jaws. The wait was down to 45 minutes. So we got in line.

Our skipper was really good, which was nice considering that we were sitting in the second row on the right side of the boat and only saw the shark well once. Jordan looked at me afterwards and said, "Maybe I'm just expecting too much." Just wait, Jordan, we will be in Disney soon. That's what I thought, at least.

We had about 30 minutes to kill before we had to be back at the Hard Rock Hotel. We went into the Shrek store and tried on some hats to kill the time.

 

[popsicletrees]

On our way out we watched Rip, Ride, and RockIt. It had a 120 min wait time posted, and I didn't really expect to ride it on this trip considering the amount of time we had in the park.

We took some pictures on our way back to Hard Rock.

This fountain was outside of the Hard Rock Hotel.

My mom and uncle were out front at 6:30 to pick us up and take us back to Pop. When we arrived at Pop, my dad was still in Tampa and my mom, grandmother, and uncle took off in his car to the Beach Club to pick up everyone for dinner that night at Trail's End.

So now for what you all have been waiting for, our time at WDW. From here on out we spent all of our time doing all things WDW.

Jordan and I had reservations at 8:30 at the California Grill. We both wanted to eat sushi one night while we were down there, and what better way to start his Disney experience than watching Wishes from the top of the Contemporary? We changed clothes and rested until 7:45. We went to the bus stop and waited for a bus for MK. One came around 15 minutes later. We decided to walk to the Contemporary from the bus stop. It wasn't too cold by that point, and we both enjoyed the walk.

We checked in right on time, went upstairs, and were immediately seated. We didn't get a table by the window, but we could see the castle from where we were seated. I was so excited to be able to see the Christmas lights on the castle. I planned on going to MK the following night to get pictures of the castle before they started taking the lights down, but as I'm sure many of you know, the lights stayed up.

We asked the hostess what time Wishes would take place. She told us 10:00, but we could come back after we ate to watch the fireworks. We didn't really want to do that. So, we agreed that we would take our time, enjoy dinner, and get dessert. For our entrees we both ordered Yoshie's Deluxe Sushi Platter and were very surprised when they came out less than 15 minutes later. So at 9:00 we had our entrees and were trying to figure out how we were going to be able to stretch dinner out. Let me add that the restaurant was not crowded and our server had plenty of open tables. So, we were not taking up any tables and by the time the meal and dessert was finished, it was time for Wishes.

I told Jordan before we came down that I was going to take pictures of the food, but since this was my first time taking pictures of our meals, I forgot more times than I remembered. For proof here is my half eaten sushi platter:

We both agreed that this was the best sushi we ever had. Each piece was incredible and so very fresh and flavorful. For dessert we split the bananas and caramel dessert. I'm not a big fan of caramel, but it was the only thing on the menu that we both agreed on.

This was also really good, and it didn't have a very heavy caramel taste, which was fine with me. As soon as we finished, Wishes started. It was the last showing of Holiday Wishes for the season. I've never seen Holiday Wishes before. It was good, but my least favorite of the three versions. Jordan was really impressed. He was so amazed that Disney was able to time the fireworks perfectly with the music. He kept asking how they did that. I simply just replied, "It's Disney."

From there I wanted to take the monorail loop and check out all the Christmas decorations at the resorts. We walked around the Contemporary first and didn't find too much.

I didn't take any pictures at the Poly since we were checking in there the next day, and to be honest there was hardly anything there.

 

[popsicletrees]

Up next was the Grand Floridian. I think this resort is beautiful, and I was excited to see the gingerbread house. We ended up taking a lot of pictures here.

It was getting late by this point, and we had a full day ahead of us. We took a monorail back to MK and then a bus to Pop.

More up later tonight!

 

[disneygirl1]

Great update!!! I just love the GF all decked out for the holidays... Might be my all time favorite!

 

[Jessie&Buzz]

Great report so far. My dd who is 12 is so excited about Hogworths. She's a huge Harry Potter fan. Thanks for posting pics of it. I made sure she saw them. I've never been to Cali Grill. My husband doesn't think he'd find anything on the menu he'd like. He's a little picky. Maybe some day I'll get there. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

 

[Disneybird]

Great report so far. My dd who is 12 is so excited about Hogworths. She's a huge Harry Potter fan. Thanks for posting pics of it. I made sure she saw them. I've never been to Cali Grill. My husband doesn't think he'd find anything on the menu he'd like. He's a little picky. Maybe some day I'll get there. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

I'm a very picky eater too. No seafood dishes. I like beef, pork and chicken. And I really won't try new stuff. But on a previous trip we ate at Cali Grill and I really enjoyed it. He'll find something there to like.

 

[harveyt0206]

Great trip report so far. Can't wait to hear more. You and your boyfriend are so stinkin' cute. You remind me of Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls (one of my all time fav shows). Look forward to reading the rest.:wave:

 

[popsicletrees]

Great update!!! I just love the GF all decked out for the holidays... Might be my all time favorite!

We loved it too. We probably spent at least half an hour just taking in the lobby alone.

Great report so far. My dd who is 12 is so excited about Hogworths. She's a huge Harry Potter fan. Thanks for posting pics of it. I made sure she saw them. I've never been to Cali Grill. My husband doesn't think he'd find anything on the menu he'd like. He's a little picky. Maybe some day I'll get there. Can't wait to read more about your trip.

I was so surprised at the size and look of Hogwart's. I love the books and movies, and it looks like Universal is really pulling out all the stops. As my mom said, she is a picky eater and she found something on the menu. I would reccomend going. The atmosphere and view are really wonderful.

Great trip report so far. Can't wait to hear more. You and your boyfriend are so stinkin' cute. You remind me of Lauren Graham from Gilmore Girls (one of my all time fav shows). Look forward to reading the rest.:wave:

Thanks so much! I've never seen Gilmore Girls, but I take that as a compliment. :lol: