Cancelled, Then Rebooked - A Trip Report (July 2 to 7)

Okay, everybody...here's my annual attempt to entertain and inform the masses of here on the WDWMagic boards with a retelling of my latest trip to the World. As always I'll write a day or so at a tme here on the same thread. So, if you enjoy what you read so far, keep checking back until it's all through. I apologize now, I am a rambling writer at times.

Preface

Last July, after returning from our yearly trip, we began to tentatively plan thi year's little jaunt to Orlando. We were planning on travelling with a family we've come to be very close to, the 4 "K's, Mom K, and the 3 daughter Ks. This trip started as a joke by Mom K. She kept saying to her daughters how if they ever went back to WDW they should go with my wife and I. The joke grew to more serious conversations to actually planning.

We set the dates of July 7th to July 15th for our pilgrimage. As time passed, we got more and more excited until late March/Early April of this year. We found out the father in the family lost his job, followed shortly by serious health issues which would obviously effect things. We all still kept the trip booked with the hopes that things would get better. Unfortunately, they did not, and the "K"s had to make the tough decision to pull out of the trip.

We cancelled and did not rebook. My wife and I decided for the time being that we would not go this summer since money is always tight. A tough decision was made, a decision which weighed heavy on us for quite some time.

Re-Planning

Fast-forward to early June, and the Disney bug was biting us HARD. We started to try to figure out if there might be a way to go, no matter what we had to do to get there. After much deliberation and lots of math, we figured we could do it and rebooked. All of the Value resorts were sold out at the time, so went Moderate, a first for me since we've only ever stay in either the Comtemporary on our honeymoon or Values for everything else.

Interestingly enough, our new trip days overlapped a trip by the "M"s, Mom and Dad who are co-workers and their daughter "C". They are huge Disney fans as well as DVC members, so needless to say, we were excited to spend a little time with them at Disney.

Now, with very short time (as opposed to usual). we came up with our general game plan and counted down the days, hours and minute until we would hit the road.

The Final Plan

July 2nd - 7th at the Caribbean Beach Resort on the Disney Dining Plan

Coming soon...The Final Countdown

 

[KnK]

You're killing me........more please.

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Are you using initials to protect the identity of the innocent :lol:

 

[DarkImage4]

The Final Countdown

Wednesday, June 28 - 3 days to go - shopping trip to Wegmans for toiletries and food/drinks etc. for the car.

Thursday, June 29 - 2 days to go - get majority of the packing done.

Friday, June 30 - 24 hours to go - last day of work for me, finish packing, get everything into the truck, make sandwiches etc. Go to a Friday evening wedding. Get home and go to sleep ASAP.

Saturday, July 1 - minutes to go - wake up, get dressed, grab our final supplies and begin to drive at around 5:30am.

Coming soon...July 1st - Travel Day

 

[DarkImage4]

July 1st - Travel Day

So, we were up at 5am and on the road by about 5:30am. If any of you have read any of my previous trip reports, you know that this is pretty late for us. We're usually on the road by 2:30am, but with us going to a wedding the night before, we had to get some sleep.

Our usual plan is to get to Orlando in one straight shot, however, with the late start, we were going to plan this all by ear and get as far as possible.

We made great time out of NJ, through Delaware and maryland with only minor delays into the drawbridge out of Washington DC into Virginia. Well, I guess we were feeling too good about ourselves because it all hit the fan in VA. It took us over 5 hours to get through the state whe it usually takes MUCH less.

After that we did hit pockets of traffic here and there, but actually were averaging 80 to 85 mph most of the way. AND there were cars flying past us at that speed, so we really didn't feel so bad about it.

It started getting dark around Georgia, which was a oddity for us because we are usually well past Jacksonville Fl at that point. It was at that point that we started to consider our options, whether we should stop somwhere and continue in the morning, or go for it.

Well, we discussed it allthe way to Jacksonville and decided to push through and aim for Orlando that night, get a room just off I-4 and be 15 minutes out of the parks when we wake up.

Finally, we got to the area of Internatonal Drive and starting looking for a room. It took us over an hour, and LOTS of luck, to find ourselves a bed for the night. Little did we know thatthe hotels would be absolutely PACKED due to overflow of crowds from the Firecracker 400 in Daytona.

Well, we finally settled in for a few hours of sleep before we would wake up and checkinto the MAGIC for the next 6 days and 5 nights. I think we both fell asleep with smiles on our faces because the time had come, we were almost there, and we could hardly wait for the next day to come.

Coming Soon...July 2nd - The Arrival

 

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July 2nd - The Arrival

A little after 8am we wake up, quickly to the alarm in our hotel. We both literally jump out of bed and wash up and get ourselves together. It was still before 10 when we made our way to the truck. The time had amost arrived, because WDW was literally right around the corner. I get the truck out onto I-4 as my wife hooks up the iPod and turns on the Adventureland Loop for background music. She breaks out the video camera to tape the ride into the resort.

Just as we were approaching the entrance gates, my wife immortalizes the moment on tape with the following quote, "Sunday morning, July 2nd, 10AM...we arrive....home."

We make our way to the Caribbean Beach Resort and do the "pre-check in" so we could get our park passes. We were given everything we need including a phone number to call around 2pm to get our room number.

Thoroughly invigorated by our surroundings, we climb into the truck for a leisurely drive around the CBR before heading to the place where EVERY WDW vacation should begin...the Magic Kingdom.

We parked, rode the tram, hopped the monorail and in minutes were reay to cry years of joy as we emerged from under the Main Street Train Station into Town Square! This is wha it is ALL about, the sights, sounds, music, smells...it all came over us like a dream, but we were actually there...just weeks after thinking we would be there this year. We both shed some happy tears as we walked towards the castle, up Main Street USA and said "Good Morning" to Walt and Mickey.

At this point our stomachs kicked into gear and we realized that we were starving. We headed towards Fantasyland to checkout Pinocchio's new menu...eh, not so excited. So, it was off to visit our favorite out-of-this-world lounge singer Sonny Eclipse, Cosmic Ray's was our lunch destination.

Here's where I must preface the food situation, I am diabectic and my wife has been dieting, so the two of us have been watching what what we eat pretty strictly. However, this is vacation and we were on the Disney Dining Plan, so my wife swore she was just going to eat whatever, and well, so was I since I had been told with all of the walking, my blood sugars should be kept really low.

We both settled in to have a double bacon cheeseburger, fries and a dessert, and enjoyed some of Sonny Eclipse's show.

After lunch we headed across the park to Adventureland to see if Pirate was open early. To our surprise, it was, with the line coming out into the walkway! The posted wait time was 50 minutes but it was not even 30. We were very impressed, they cleaned some things up & added a little new scenery. The Barbosa animatronic was good but not perfect IMO, but the Jack Sparrow AAs were amazing, especially the final one. The most impressinve addition was the first effect you hit in the attraction, the waterfall. I won't go into detail about it because there have already been numerous reports about it, but let me just say...WOW.

From there, we shopped our way through that gift shop and down Main Street with a short jaunt across the street to the Cinema to pick up our VMK quests. On another aside, As of the week before the trip, I had lost a total of 66 pounds since January, so I had higher hopes than usual that I'd find some WDW shirts etc. that would actually fit me. Well, there was a PoTC football jersey and a WDW '06 hockey jersey that are just on the border of a good fit, oh well...maybe next trip.

It was time to head back to the CBR and move our stuff into the room. Luck was with us as the afternoon rain chased us to our door, but only got us a little wet just before we got upstairs. We settled in for a couple hours, a short nap and just a little stretch-out and wind down time.

We contacted the "M"s, met them over at the Animal Kingdom and took the train back to Rafiki's Planet Watch. Shortly after petting some goats and llamas, we high-tailed it out to the truck to head to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Boma. As always, the food was excellent, I had 2 glasses of Frunch, lots of food and a big plate of desserts. The "M"s have never been here, but they reeally seemed to enjoyed it.

After we all got our fill, we left the Lodge again to head back to the AK for Extra Magic Hours. Not only top my wife and I love the EMH and take advantage of them whenever possible, but we always try to do the AK at night. That park is beautiful after dark, the Tree of Life and Everst all lit up and riding Kali in the dark. There is almost a different mood in the park at night.

My wife and I and the youngest "M" rode Kali River Rapids, and I got absolutely DRENCHED. Then we headed to Everest where I sat out with Mrs "M". Eventually I'll go, but I need to get over my fears and anxieties first. My wife said this was probably one of if not the best coaster shes ever ridden (from and overall experience standpoint).

The "M"s called it a night and headed out. My wife and I pulled out our tripod (bought specifically for pics of this park at night) and got some great shots of Everest and the Tree.

Now, it was time for us to call it for the day. We hopped into the truck, drove to CBR, showered and curled up in our nice king-size bed to rest up for the next day. The nice closing touch to the night, when we set our wake-up call, the message at the end wished us "magical dreams". That was the final thought as we smiled and fell asleep.

Coming Soon...July 3rd - A Meeting at Soarin' and July 4th a Day Early

 

[garyhoov]

:sohappy: :sohappy:

I've still got over 100 days, but I'm started to get in the mood from reading trip reports. Any photos?

 

[DarkImage4]

:sohappy: :sohappy:

I've still got over 100 days, but I'm started to get in the mood from reading trip reports. Any photos?

If I can figure out how to post the pics I will...most definitely!

(any tips?)

 

[garyhoov]

If I can figure out how to post the pics I will...most definitely!

(any tips?)

I'm not sure how close you are, so I'll start from the beginning, and you can ignore the things you already know.

Do you have an online photo account? I have snapfish (www.snapfish.com I think), some people use photobucket. It's free, and you can set up online albums (which is good to have anyway). Once you've got them online, you can right-click on the image and check "properties" to get the address of the photo. Copy the address and use the "Insert Image" button when posting (the yellow button that looks like it has a mountain image).

Paste the address, and the photo should appear in your post.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Great intro so far...I can almost hear the music and sounds....but unfortunately look out the window to a hot and rainy New Jersey...

 

[Jerm]

This has to be one of the best trip reports I have ever read! I can't wait for the rest of it. When are the pictures coming also?

 

[FanofDinsey1981]

I agree, it is a well done report thus far.

And thanks for putting "the final countdown" song in my head. :hammer:

 

[Dagger]

Can't wait for more!!!

 

[doop]

Great report, keep it coming!

 

[Bravesfn1]

Thanks for the report, waiting anxiously for the rest of the report!

 

[DarkImage4]

July 3rd - A Meeting at Soarin' and July 4th a Day Early

We wake up on our first full day in the World, re-energized and excited (how could we not be?). I tested my blood sugar for the first time on the trip today, it was lower than it's been in months! After all the carbs i consumed in the meal I had last night in Boma, including a plate of desserts AND a couple of glasses of Frunch, I was shocked. That moment we learned my limits on vacation at WDW, I had none :sohappy:.

This morning we split a leftover turkey sandwich from our drive for breakfast. Not exactly the breakfast of champions, but it was fast and tasty. We got ourselves together and made our way to Epcot to meet up with the "M"s. We entered the park from the main entrance while they made their way from the Beach Club through the International Gateway.

I made note that the "rope drop" happened in a different place than it used to. Last year the guests were held just before Spaceship Earth where the Character Bus came out for park opening. This year, we were allowed up to just before the Fountain of Nations where the characters came out of Innoventions for the opening meet and greet.

From the rope we headed into The Land to meet with the "M"s and get our Fastpasses for Soarin'. With FP in hand, we chose to go to Mission: Space, intense training, please. I cannot get enough of this attaraction, it never fails to amaze me. After Mars, it was time to be a test dummy.

We waited in Test Track's stand by line, for about 30 minutes and pretty much got right on. This is never a "must do" attraction for me, but it is a fun one. During our wait Dad "M" got a call from a gradute of the band where we all teach, who was also vacationing in WDW with her family. They made a general plan to meet up outside of Soarin', which is where were heading anyway to use our FPs. We got there and talked for a bit and had a picutres taken of this impromptu WDW marching band mini-meet.

Soarin' is quite simply one of the best attractions on property. No, it is not a screamer or super thrilling, but the honest feeling of floating, the stunning visuals and the amazing musical score combine perfectly for an experience like no other. Ah, I can smell the oranges now! :slurp:

It was getting to be lunchtime at this point, so we directed ourselves towards the World Showcase and made one short detour into Club Cool (which I will forever refer to as Ice Station Cool). The "M"s have never been here, let's all be honest with each other, there is nothing like seeing the look on someone's face when they taste Beverly for the first time.:lol: And we got to see it 3 times :drevil: .

Originally we were headed to eat lunch at the American Adventure, but on a whim, we turned left into the Mexico Pavilion, and ate and the San Angel Inn. From here we toured the world as "C" did her KidCot mask.

Eventually, we got to, and decided to experiance the American Adventure. This was a first for my wife and I, somethignwe always wanted to do but just never got around to doing. The preshow of the Voices of Liberty was outstanding, I would and will go back to just watch the preshow. I cannot explain just how good they were, but I must highly recommend taking a few moments out of your day to see them. The show itself was inspiring, and tear jerking. Why had we never done this before? Well, this will not be the last time. I'll just have to cover my wife's eyes when Walt Disney and Jim Henson come on the screen.

From here the families parted ways for now, and decided to return to our resorts for a short reprieve from the heat.

My wife and I, however got distracted by the sounds of drums in Japan. What can I say, were drummers at heart. We pulled out the cameras at documented Matsuriza's performance for posterity.

We hopped a Friendship boat in Morocco back over to Mexico when it started to rain. It wasn't SO bad, so we were just going to take the hit and get a little wet. Well, that didn't last long enough. When the sky opened up, we were luckily near the entrance to MouseGears, so we ducked in for a quick browse. When it finally slowed down, we trekked back to the truck and onto the CBR for a short rest.

After freshening up, and catching a short nap, we were off to the Magic Kingdom to meet back up with the "M"s at Tony's Town Square for dinner. We were running a little late, so we figured we'd just meet them there. Until our phone rang as we were about make the elft turn out of the resort.

The "M"s were at the Beach Club bus stop and had been waiting for around 30 to 40 minutes for a bus. Easy fix to that problem, they were on our way so we picked them up.

We ended up over a half hour late for our reservation (so hard to NOT call it a priority seating). They were still able to get us a table with relatively little wait. It was a great meal, and we ate way more than we should have, but that's okay, it is vacation .

We dropped into the Main Street Cinema to turn in our VMK In-Park quests and got a huge stack of cards each.

Now, the "M"s were not able to get on PoTC earlier in their visit, so we walked over to Adventureland to see if we could get on....we could. It was only about a 35 mintues wait before we were riding. We took a few fun pictures of us in the gift shop wearing the various pirates bandanas.

Now, it was off towards Main Street to get a spot to watch the July 4th Firewarks on July 3rd. Fantasy in the Sky for the 4th is quite a spectacle, especially to perimeter shots that envelop the MK in 360 degrees of fireworks.

As the lights came back on, the mass exodus began, and there was no end in sight. We waited for a while then decided to make a break for it. As usual, we ducked into the Main Street stores to avoid a good deal of the crowds and to scout for possible purchases.

After that it was a mere 10 minute wait for the monorail and a team ride back ou to the truck. We were invited in to take a quick look at the Beach Club. We looked around the beautiful lobby and went through the gift shop area. Though we never went to look at the room, we were very impressed.

This is one of those nights where we wish we had a longer trip and/or much more energy because with Extra Magic Hours, the magic Kingdom was open until 4am. one of these days, if we can plan it, we'll do that. Anyways...

The end of our first full day in the World, we were sleeping before our heads hit the pillow, it was time for more "Magical Dreams".

Coming Soon...July 4th - On Our Own

 

[DisneySam]

Great Trip Report! As of this morning I have 40 days left until my vacation. And sadly enough I will probably start packing soon LOL.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

We're not going to have to wait another week for July 4 are we? :lol: :lol:

Sounds like a great time so far, it's always fun to discover something new at the world. We continue to find things that have us asking "why we never did this before" ! :sohappy:

 

[DarkImage4]

We're not going to have to wait another week for July 4 are we? :lol: :lol:

Sounds like a great time so far, it's always fun to discover something new at the world. We continue to find things that have us asking "why we never did this before" ! :sohappy:

Sorry, I was away from the computer this weekend....I will giving at least one day per day this week...

 

[DarkImage4]

July 4th - On Our Own

We awoke to spend our first day mostly on our own in the World. This will actually be the first day we've spend on our own in WDW since 2003. As we hopped out of bed, the promise of the day really got us going.

Our plan, head to the Animal Kingdom and do a few more attractions so we can mark the AK off the list for this trip.

On our way into the front gates, we saw "Wes Palm", everyone's favorite friendly, walking, and talking palm tree. My wife whipped out the video camera to get him on tape, Wes noticed and came over to talk to us! We introduced ourselves to each other and Wes asked me for a hug, after which he called me a "tree-hugger" .

From there is was off to the back of the park and Africa to ride the Kilamanjaro Safari. This was an imteresting ride, because in all of the times we've done this attraction, we never had a driver HIT to croc bridge. Yes, I said HIT THE BRIDGE. And let me say, we were all pretty shocked when it happened. Well, we were stopped for a few moments and all was ok so we moved along. The worst part of this safari, however, was the family behind us, they were overly loud and the father kept saying, "she really could've stopped so we can take a picture of...". Is it just me, or are there signs throughout the queue that say, "Driver cannot stop for photos"? Wow, sometimes I truly dislike people.

Anyways, we then made our way around to the Tree Of Life so we could experience "It's Tough to Be a Bug". Only a 5 minute wait before we were in the theater. This show is always fun, and the audience actually wasn't too bad. Yes, there were crying kids, but it was mostly laughing and playful screaming at the effects.

After the show we made our way to Island Merchantile. We bought a BUNCH of stuff and had it sent back to the room.

It was getting close to lunch time, so that meant it was time to bid the AK a fond farewell for now, and drive over to Epcot for our reservations at Le Cellier.

Le Cellier is the one must-do meal whenever we go to WDW. Unfortunately, since this trip was planned rather last minute, we could only get a lunch reservation for the day we wanted, so the menu was slightly smaller, and a couple of the "nicer" entrees were not offered. Now don't get me wrong, this was still one amazing meal, but we were a little dissappointed with the shorter list of lunch selections. I guess we are just a little spoiled. The odd thing here is, for us, the chocoholics we are, the best dessert is the fresh raspberry sorbet. It is the ultimate refresher and we both might just skip the other items and go right for that next time. Also, as usual, the pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup were devine.

After lunch, we made our way back into Innoventions where my wife was able to try out a Segway. And, although I've lost a lot a weight, was unable to try one out. She said it was weird at first, but she quickly got the hang of it. I think she'd love one of these for a toy to use at our marching band shows. I'm aiming for next year to try one out myself! We shopped our way out of Epcot and headed back to the CBR for an afternoon rest and recharge.

Then, we re-packed our stuff to prepare for the evening back in Epcot for the 4th of July edition of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We were in Epcot last year for this and it was an amazing spectacle. Even just the additional tag, "The Heartbeat of Freedom" is worth the wait, and braving the insane crowds.

We jumped on a spot in the middle of the bridge heading into Mexico, right on the wall. The blankets were unpacked and we settled in for our wait. Since we just got our new video camera, and the new tripod for the digital camera, we really wanted the best viewing we could get, which meant no one in front of us. After we set up the tripod and laid out our blanket, we stretched out for our 2 hour wait for the show. Yes, we are insane, but this show has special meanings for us, so we will do all we can for the perfect viewing spot.

We took turns going to the restroom and getting our wristbands for EMH while we waited. As the evening wore on, the crowd got worse and worse. I am not exaggerating in saying at it's peak there was maybe 1 or 2 people across able to move around the promenade.

Everyone knows about RoE, so I won't go into that, but I will tell you briefly about the July 4th tag, "The Heartbeat of Freedom". It is a montage of patriotic tunes as well as works by well known American composers accompanied by mostly red, white and blue fireworks, spotlights and fountains as well as images from American history and Partriotic images on the Earth Globe. There were snippets of famous speeches from our history followed by a series of launches from behind the American Adventure. At this point, one of the absolute most amazing fireworks moments I have ever experienced occurs...the finale.

Words cannot do it justice, but I will try...

Everyone knows the big fireworls that mostly just make a VERY long boom. Well, these begin to be launched from the center of the lagoon, faster and faster, more and more. The sound get louder and louder, literally the volume goes up about 3 to 4 times and each time you cannot believe it cannot get any louder, but it does! You are not only hearing the finale, but you are feeling it! It shakes your entire body and shakes the very ground you stood on. You felt EVERY explosion and it left you shaking well after it was done. Perhaps it was just from the power or the adrenaline or just the emotions it evoked. For you musicians, Disney actually cresendoed a fireworks show.

The roar of the crowd in response was amazing, and I found myself screaming, too. Then, after the show, they began to play "I'm Proud to be an American", and when they got to the chorus, you could hear the entine crowd singing along. To tell you, as I type this, it brings tears to my eyes due to the emotion the thoughts of the evening bring to mind.

The final touch, they did not relight the park side of Spaceship Earth. instead they were projecting a laser light show of stars and "Happy Birthday America", "Celebrating 230 Years of Freedom", etc.

It was quite an evening and an amazing experience!

Well, we waited a while for the crowd to thin out a bit before attempting to move along. Finally, we walked across the bridge towards Future World, with a slight pause for a video of of the laser projections, before going into Innoventions West for a potty break.

It was then when we notice all of the characters there waiting to be visited, with absolutely NO wait. We saw, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Chip and Dale. YAY :sohappy: .

There was a short pause for a drink before jumping right onto Spaceship Earth for one final trip through the cosmos before calling it a night.

Back to the room we go, exhausted, but awake enough to hook the video camera up to the TV and watch RoE again. OK...yes, we are obsessed.

Another night of Magical Dreams awaits us as we hit the hay, for tomorrow is a day full of the unexpected!

Coming Soon...July 5th - Surprises and Discoveries