Daughter's 1st trip (and my first in 20 years!)

This is my first trip report and while I’m excited to write it, I’m completely bummed that our trip is over! Anyway, to follow trip report protocol I believe introductions are the first item of business.

I’m 31, and my last visit to WDW was over 20 years ago so for me a big part of this trip was about recalling some of those old memories and experiencing some of the new things that didn’t exist back then. I used to live in Naples, Florida, and my Dad worked for Eastern Airlines (then partner airline of WDW) so we were regular visitors and always stayed at the Contemporary – mostly because of the huge arcade.

​

My wife (Frances, 32) last visited around the same time as I did but that was also her only visit so her memories were quite a bit different than mine – more on that later.

Our daughter Nora is 3 years old, loves the princesses but especially Ariel and now Rapunzel, and has been talking about going to Disney World for the past eight months when we first started planning. That’s really my fault, because I’ve been talking about and planning for this trip since she was about three cells wide.

My Mom and Dad came with us and were very helpful for babysitting duties – one thing they noticed during the planning stages was that it’s significantly more expensive now that we can't go for free.

Day 1 - Getting there is 1/2 the fun. Not really, but it's ok.

We live near Nashville, Tennessee, and despite the fact that my Dad still works for the airlines we decided to drive. There were several reasons for that, in no particular order: cost, convenience of having a car at WDW, wanting to avoid the probes. My Dad got a good deal on a Toyota Sienna van through Priceline so we didn't have to tack miles onto one of our cars.

My wife, daughter, and I regularly drive from Nashville to Houston, Texas so Nora is a seasoned car traveler but because of the timing of things we decided to spend the night in Cordele, Georgia – about a 7 hour drive from home. Unfortunately that turned into 9 hours due to post-Thanksgiving traffic, but we made it without incident. A highlight of the drive included the frequent leapfrogging of an incredibly grumpy-looking dude driving some sort of fugly van, which was matched in its beauty by the wife in the passenger seat.

Our hotel en route was a brand new Country Inn & Suites which I scored on Priceline for about $60 per night. My wife spotted The Wizard of Oz on TV and promptly scared the crap out of both my daughter and I. That movie always gave me the heeby-jeebies. Anyway, the hotel was nice but I got no sleep due to the highway noise, late night greasy pizza, creepy movie – and the excitement of knowing that the next day we’d be in WDW.

 

[Saoirse1916]

Day 5 (cont'd) – Nemo and Naptime

Nora is my fast-eating buddy – we both can pound food quite a bit faster than the rest of our party, which gave us a chance to take a few fun photos.

Once everyone else caught up with us we were on our way to see Nemo when a Cast Member pointed out to us that there was no line to meet the characters from Winnie the Pooh, one of Nora’s favorites. She was thrilled to meet them and while we got some great pictures, I wish I had managed to sneak one of a mom and her baby in front of us – when the baby saw Eeyore she just lost it. Poor Eeyore tried his best to appear friendly but the kid was having none of it.

Huh, that last one looks like Nora just punched Tigger in the beezies. Anyway, Frances and I had seen a behind-the-scenes show about Finding Nemo the Musical so we were both excited to finally see it live. We got to the theater with a good half hour to spare so we had pretty decent seats, though I was surprised at how many people were already seated on a slow day by Disney standards. After about 15 minutes the Nemo logo that was projected on the curtains began to flicker as a CGI Nemo swam by. That drew a few murmurs from the crowd which only increased a minute or so later when Nemo popped up in one of the bubbles off to the right or left of the stage. As it drew closer to showtime, Nemo showed up more frequently and the now packed house had a nice little game of "where’s he going to be next?"

I realize everyone here already knows about this but I couldn’t help but think what a great idea that was – it really kept the crowd entertained when it would have been very easy for people (little kids) to get fidgety and whiny out of boredom. Yet another indication of how Disney does things the right way, if you ask me.

Once the show started it was every bit as awesome as I had hoped. The songs fit really well with the story and the actors were so talented, both as singers and as puppeteers. We all loved it!

After the show Nora was getting sleepy so we put her in the stroller (the first time she had used it on the trip!) and headed to Camp Minnie Mickey. I must have misunderstood what the point of that land was, because I was surprised to find it was nothing but really long lines to meet characters. We bailed and headed back toward Africa and within about 10 minutes of us pushing the stroller, Nora was lying down and nodding off. So we decided to keep moving and my folks headed off to some sort of train ride – I’m still not sure what that’s all about as we didn’t go on it.

Frances, Nora, and I ended up in Africa on the Pangani Forest Trail which was perfect as we got to check out all sorts of animals and Nora zonked out in the stroller. In Nashville we’ve got a pretty decent zoo with something similar to the trail but the theming and immersion was fantastic. Plus, I got to go all Gorrillas in the Mist on a few shots.

Nora was doing so well sleeping so we kept the stroller moving and headed back to Asia (does it seem like we’ve made a lot of loops? It did to me too!) to check out the Maharaja Jungle Trek. Unfortunately by that time we had loaded ourselves down with Coke (me) and tea (Frances) so neither of us had a free hand for photography. Yet another thing on our list for the next trip – though we still really enjoyed the stroll among Asia’s animals.

We were making our way to the exit when Nora woke up – she was a bit bummed that she had fallen asleep and missed a few things but was happy to hear that we were headed someplace fun for dinner: Boma!

We got a bit lost driving – so much so that we ended up off property and had to make a series of u-turns, but we made it eventually. As we arrived we made a quick run through the impressive Animal Kingdom Lodge lobby and checked in at the booth. About 5 seconds after I was handed a pager, it went off. I asked, “Are you just testing this thing or is it time to eat?” The greeter laughed and we followed her to our seats. As a side, sad note about the popularity of the DDP and ADR system, there was a lady and her daughter trying to get a table from the standby line and the response from the greeter was, “Well, we’ll put you on the list but I’m afraid I’m not sure when a table will be available.” She was still waiting when we left.

After eating though, I can see why the place is so popular – it was tasty! I had a few bowls of the seafood gumbo (not exactly African, but awesome nonetheless) and I especially enjoyed the desserts. Despite what you may imagine when looking at the photos of me, I’m not actually a big dessert guy and that was one of the reasons I initially didn’t want to use the DDP. But now I’m glad we did because I got to try some really good ones on this trip, and those at Boma were among the best. Yes, I realize it’s a buffet and I could have eaten them regardless of my DDP status…it’s been a long day.

Sufficiently porked up, we rolled ourselves back to the car, back to the Contemporary, and hit the rack. The next day was to be our last full day at the parks and we wanted to get a bit of sleep!

EDIT: As this was my first ever visit to Animal Kingdom I have to say it's one of my new favorite places at WDW. The theming in Africa and Asia alone are with the trip, in my opinion and I'm hopeful that we'll have warmer weather next time so we can ride Kali River Rapids and really be able to spend some more time enjoying all the sights.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Awwww...so glad Nora loves critters. My youngest does, too. Awesome that your better half got to be in the Flights of Wonder show. I got picked during our Jan '09 trip (report in signature) & got a great video clip. I love your commentary, too. Y'all sound like our kinda folks.

Can't wait for the next installment even if it is the last day which, for us, is always bittersweet.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I love your commentary, and your daughter is adorable...looking forward to the rest of your TR!

 

[GOT2SAMMIES]

Once the show started it was every bit as awesome as I had hoped. The songs fit really well with the story and the actors were so talented, both as singers and as puppeteers. We all loved it!

So we decided to keep moving and my folks headed off to some sort of train ride – I’m still not sure what that’s all about as we didn’t go on it.

QUOTE]
OMG.... Nemo is one of my favorite shows! We have seen it twice and loved every minute of it! I LOVE the song that "Crush" sings.... I have found the soundtrack CD for the show on the Disneystore website...Haven;t bough it yet but it's on my christmas list!

As far as the train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch... you didn;t miss anything... I hate to be negative but we have done that twice and both time I really thought it wa a waste of time.... This past trip we skipped it altogether..although you can find Pocahantas there and she is cool!

Love reading your trip report!

 

[Mukta]

I am really enjoying this trip report. Nora is too cute!

I teared up at the pictures of her with the Princesses. I felt like I was truly seeing someone's dream coming true.

I have a feeling you guys will be back at the world soon. Nora will keeping asking until you relent!

I'm glad you enjoyed AK. I think it is unfairly criticized a lot. Next time you visit, see the Festival of the Lion King in Camp Minnie/Mickey and take the little train. The train leads to a petting zoo and I'm sure Nora will love that. It is also where they take care of sick animals. The CMs there are awesome.

Boma is my favorite restaurant too!

 

[Saoirse1916]

I got picked during our Jan '09 trip (report in signature) & got a great video clip. I love your commentary, too. Y'all sound like our kinda folks.

Thanks for the link on your previous TR. It seems like I read every trip report on here in the months before I went but I missed that one -- I do remember reading one of yours a while back and really enjoyed it though!

I love your commentary, and your daughter is adorable...looking forward to the rest of your TR!

Thank you so much!

OMG.... Nemo is one of my favorite shows! We have seen it twice and loved every minute of it!

As far as the train ride to Rafiki's Planet Watch... you didn;t miss anything... I hate to be negative but we have done that twice and both time I really thought it was a waste of time...

Yeah, Nemo was a blast and a must hit for next time as well. Good to know we didn't miss anything too exciting at Rafiki's Planet Watch. Now that you mention it I remember that sign but had no idea what it was about.

I am really enjoying this trip report. Nora is too cute!

I teared up at the pictures of her with the Princesses. I felt like I was truly seeing someone's dream coming true.

I have a feeling you guys will be back at the world soon. Nora will keeping asking until you relent!

I'm glad you enjoyed AK. I think it is unfairly criticized a lot. Next time you visit, see the Festival of the Lion King in Camp Minnie/Mickey and take the little train. The train leads to a petting zoo and I'm sure Nora will love that.

Thanks for the kind words -- Nora had a blast for sure! And don't worry, there won't be any need for relenting on my part...I'm already trying to figure out when we can go back!

I loved AK and while I understand the complaints about the lack of rides, I guess you could say that we're zoo people and love spending all day just wandering around looking at animals, exhibits, landscaping, that sort of stuff. I think that's what really made AK such a winner in our book.

Festival of the Lion King was on our list but because Nora crashed out we decided to let her rest -- another thing for next time! Good tip on Camp Minnie/Mickey, too. It was so packed all we could see were lines for meet and greets so we just headed elsewhere. Glad to know there's something to see after all.

More posts to follow, though I might have to wait until tomorrow -- I do have to get some actual work done on occasion.

 

[tiaragirl]

This is such a "readable" TR (weird comment, I know, but I've been reading some "unreadable" textbooks, so I'm appreciating fluency and content). Your daughter is adorable, and I'm loving how amusing you are - mostly about your coaster phobia.. probably a good call on Everest, by the way.

Can't wait to read the last day. Thanks for the smiles!

 

[Saoirse1916]

This is such a "readable" TR (weird comment, I know, but I've been reading some "unreadable" textbooks, so I'm appreciating fluency and content). Your daughter is adorable, and I'm loving how amusing you are - mostly about your coaster phobia.. probably a good call on Everest, by the way.

Thanks so much! I'll certainly take "readable" as a compliment!

 

[Saoirse1916]

Day 6 – MK and Rapunzel

We had purchased a Tangled book for Nora several months ago and she absolutely loved it so when the movie came out we took her to see it. As a result it seemed like Rapunzel was challenging Ariel for the "favorite princess" title. I had heard that Rapunzel was meeting guests somewhere in the park so the previous night I fired up the Google machine on my phone and tracked down the details: 10:00am at the Fairytale Garden, so that became our goal for our last full day in WDW.

We had a few snacks in the room and quickly walked over to the Magic Kingdom with my Mom – my Dad had picked up a bit of a cold and needed to get some rest. Arriving at the gates we thought we had somehow time warped to Christmas Eve – the place was absolutely packed. Come to find out, it was so packed because they were filming a Christmas special at the MK that day. There were camera crews all over the place to film parades, shows, concerts, and Main Street was mobbed.

Fortunately we had some time so we made our way over to Tomorrowland which was virtually empty. Frances spotted no line at Space Mountain so she ran that way and my Mom came with Nora and me over to the Tomorrowland Speedway, one of my favorites as a kid. Did you know those cars only go about 5 miles per hour? From my memory they went at least 90 mph – must be the higher gas prices or something.

Anyway, we met up with my wife who said Space Mountain was again awesome and we all headed to the Fairytale Garden to find a small line already formed at about 9:20. I was initially put off by the idea of waiting in a line for 40 minutes but Nora was so excited that we saddled up. My Mom held our place briefly while we grabbed a few muffins (and a coffee for her) from a nearby snack shop – where our Nora met a Cast Member named Norah from Jamaica and was thrilled to talk to someone with her same name (more or less.)

When we got back to the line we learned that a Cast Member came by counting the guests and that there was some sort of cutoff that happened a few families behind us. All of the kids who were in line prior to that point would be coloring and dancing with Rapunzel and Flynn. Pretty cool, and it certainly made it worthwhile to stand in line – a line which, by that point, extended all the way back to the castle. My Mom went back toward the castle to check it out only to find herself with a semi-obstructed view of a Mariah Carey concert. As that meant virtually nothing to her, she came back down to our spot in line and it was time to head in to meet Rapunzel!

The first item of business was coloring, an act that Nora does no less than 15,000 times each day so she hopped right in. Normally, she likes to stay fairly close to us but the CMs had the parents walk up a little ramp to reserve a place in line for her to meet the characters. I stayed with her for a few minutes while Frances and my Mom did as instructed until I realized that Nora couldn’t care less if I was standing behind her and joined them on the ramp.

Then out came Rapunzel and Flynn. They walked around the table meeting everyone and Nora decided to just follow her around. We were laughing, trying to flag her down and let her know to stay put but she had completely tuned us out – fortunately a friendly CM took her by the hand and led her back to an open spot at the table.

All the kids did a little dance around the table with the CMs and Rapunzel and Flynn, which Nora just loved, then the characters went up to the top of the ramp to meet everyone.

Nora isn’t a particularly shy kid which was why it was so interesting for us to see her swallow her tongue at Cinderella’s Royal Table when meeting everyone. Well, she must have been kicking herself for that because she absolutely talked Rapunzel’s ear off. The kids in front of us in the line went through pretty quickly: hi, hug, photo, off you go. So I was expecting something similar when it was Nora’s turn but Rapunzel and Flynn were in no rush to move her along. Frances and I were standing back by the PhotoPass photographer (who was cracking up at Nora bumping her gums) so we didn’t get to hear exactly what she was telling the characters except for one exchange that we did catch: “You wanted to see the lights but Mother Gothel wouldn’t let you. That’s sad.” Hahahahahahaha It seemed like it went on for quite a while – gotta give some love to those CMs as they really made her feel like she could sit with them all day.

Nora said goodbye and we all headed over to Fantasyland to hit her favorites one more time: the Carousel and It’s a Small World. We also grabbed some FastPasses for Peter Pan, but ended up heading over to Frontierland just to see something different as we had spent the majority of our time in Fantasyland thus far. There was a raft for Tom Sawyer’s Island about to depart so we hurried onto it an explored the island for a bit. I don’t believe I had ever been out there – it’s really pretty peaceful! Frances and Nora did a little dance under the pavilion overlooking the Rivers of America and it gave me a chance to take a few shots.

After a raft ride back to shore I grabbed FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain to use after lunch, as we were getting a bit hungry. We spotted Pecos Bill’s as I remembered good reviews of the place so it seemed like a good choice. I couldn’t imagine seeing it on a busy day, because it was packed when we were there. In retrospect I wish I would have grabbed a burrito or something other than a deluxe cheeseburger (read: coronary on a bun), being in a Mexican restaurant after all. But the food was good and plentiful and filled us up rather well.

We were going to head back to BTMRR but Nora fell off her chair and clunked her head so we ended up just waiting outside for a parade trying to cheer her up. That parade consisted of three floats spread over about a half an hour, and the comical showcase of two frustrated CMs trying to prevent people from crossing the rope barrier.

At this point it was getting on toward naptime and we knew we’d have a long night ahead of us as we were going to the Hoop-De-Doo Revue for dinner. So we made our way through the throngs of people lined up for some more TV-special excitement and headed for the exits, stopping along the way for a few photos and souvenir hunting.

As a change of pace, we were going to take the ferry to the Wilderness Lodge then grab the other smaller ferry back to the Contemporary Resort but exhaustion had caught up with Nora and she became a bit grumpy. So, for the benefit of everyone else on the boat we decided to just hoof it. Back in the resort we all sacked out for a nice nap!

 

[Saoirse1916]

Day 6 (cont’d) Hoop-De-Do and EMH

After we all logged a few hours in the land of nod it dawned on me that we had an odd amount of time before our next scheduled event, the Hoop-De-Do Revue. Just enough time to meet with the folks at the Bay Lake Tower DVC office, which we decided to do. In short order we were taken into a model room where Nora was given crayons, a coloring book, and portable DVD player with her choice of a metric-buttload of Disney movies. She opted for Finding Nemo. Fully entertained, Frances and I sat through the presentation about DVC and were very impressed with the options and products. We checked out some of the rooms at BLT, and were given a bunch of literature and – best part – $100 in Disney gift cards.

We still had some time to kill before meeting my folks at the Contemporary dock so we decided to hop the next monorail over to the Polynesian to wander around the lobby. Our theme of good timing continued as we were met by a nice lady with no shoes on who gave us all leis and had us follow her outside for a drum/fire ceremony. Some dude with no shirt came out and twirled a fire baton while the shoeless lady did a great job accompanying on the drum.

After the cool ceremony we headed around the monorail loop one last time which gave Nora one more good look at the castle at night and returned to the Contemporary. We headed to the dock and met up with my folks who had been waiting for a boat for about 20 minutes. Leave it to our mojo: as soon as we got there one pulled right up!

I had been to the Hoop-De-Do Revue when I was a kid – we stayed at Fort Wilderness on one of our trips – but I really had no memory of it. In truth, when my folks suggested that we go to the show I did my best to talk them out of it due to the cheezeball factor that I had read about online. Standing in a rather long line in 45 degree weather to get checked in and our photo taken didn’t really improve my anticipation of the event, either. But eventually the doors opened and we were shown to our table, or perhaps I should say our extension of the stage. We were seated in the first row right next to the piano player!

Once the food came out and the entertainment started I chastised myself for being so critical of the show before I saw it – it was fantastic! Sure, there were some corny bits but the kids loved those parts and the actors did a great job of including subtle humor that the adults latched onto. Plus, they were all terrific singers and dancers so it was a really entertaining show.

An added bonus to the show was the free refill policy on beer and wine, of which my wife and I partook. I really enjoyed how the actors took breaks to allow for eating and conversation with some quiet piano/banjo background music to fill in the gaps. All in all, a great show and one that we’d definitely do again.

Sufficiently full and lightly toasted, we headed back to the dock to find a boat waiting for us – when Nora mentioned a need for an urgent bathroom break. So we took her back to the hall while my folks caught the boat to the Contemporary. When we got back to the dock we knew that we’d be waiting for at least 20 minutes but that turned out to be perfect. Within minutes the MVMCP fireworks started up and with no one else on the dock we had our own private show! During the show the floats from the Electric Water Pageant pulled up and I finally got to relive one of my fondest WDW memories. Our ferry to the Wilderness Lodge/Contemporary pulled up just as the fireworks hit their finale – it couldn’t have worked out any better!

But wait – it did get better! We were the only ones on the boat and I happened to mention that we were headed to the Contemporary so the captain changed the route, saying that we can try and beat some sort of fireworks-watching boat which “hogs the dock”. So he put the foot down and got us back much faster than expected. When we got off the dock we ran into Smee who was just hanging out in one of the little alcoves along the way. Nora was a bit nervous at first but she ended up giving him a high-five and saying "Goodnight Smee!" Then later, "His name was 'Smee'?" She hadn't seen Peter Pan yet, what can I say. We returned to our room to get Nora ready for bed, settled her down in my folks’ room, grabbed our coats, and pounded a quick glass of wine to keep the buzz rolling as we were headed for Epcot’s evening Extra Magic Hours.

The monorail got us to Epcot quickly and our first stop was MouseGear to finally do some souvenir shopping. Plus, we had $100 courtesy of the DVC to burn! The only thing I wanted as a souvenir was an old-school EPCOT Center t-shirt and I was in the right place to find them. Unfortunately they didn’t have my size (XL) on the rack. I asked a Cast Member if they might have any more in the back but if not it was no trouble as I could probably get by with a Large. She didn’t miss a beat saying, “No no, that won’t work.” I chuckled and she said, “Oh, it’s not you, it’s the material.” I laughed and told her I’d have to remember that for future use: No, I’m not a fat guy, it’s just the material making me look like a fat guy. Hahahahahaha

Anyway, she tracked down an XL and it turns out she was right – there’s no way I could have shoehorned myself into a Large, but the XL is perfect. I also scored a swank EPCOT Center cup to replace the cheapo plastic one that I’ve been keeping at my desk.

Frances grabbed a really nice Mickey/WDW sweatshirt and we also found a Belle crown to replace the ghetto-riffic, dollar store, feather and rhinestone job that Nora insisted on bringing with her on the trip. While I was happy with the stuff I bought I would have probably spent a lot more money overall if they had more old school EPCOT Center gear and WDW- and resort-specific stuff. Everything was Disney Parks or had the Disneyland logo on it along with WDW. Even my EPCOT shirt has Disneyland near the tag – there is no Epcot in Disneyland! I can only assume that the shirt is also sold in California if it has a DL tag but who in the world is buying an Epcot shirt at Disneyland? </rant>

We decided to hit World Showcase because we really didn’t get to spend much time when we were there for lunch at Biergarten a few days before. We knew a lot would be closed but thought it would be fun to walk around the loop since that was one of the few things that Frances remembered from her trip. Except that she thought World Showcase was inside Spaceship Earth. That was another theme of our vacation, comparing our memories, but hers were generally more trippy than mine.

We briefly stopped at Rose and Crown for a couple of $10 pints and continued the loop. Evidently others had the same alcohol-induced idea as we ended up singing a verse of a Christmas carol with a few random passers-by. The funny thing is that I really didn’t even give it much thought until now. I suppose that’s just a nicety of drinking at WDW as opposed to your local – you can high-five Mickey and sing Christmas carols with strangers whereas back home you’d just have to belt out "Brown Eyed Girl" at karaoke and hope you don’t get your ______ beat on the way to the parking lot.

Even though most things were closed it was such a lovely night that it was great just walking around all the international pavilions taking mental notes of things to visit for next time. We decided that we’ll have to take a longer trip and dedicate at least one entire day just to World Showcase as there really is a ton of stuff to see. We stopped to grab an extremely mediocre shot of SSE from across the lagoon and eventually made our way back to the Christmas tree that divided World Showcase from Future World.

We finished up our adult beverages and made a run at an empty Mission Space again since both Test Track and Soarin were still posting long wait times. It was really cool landing a spaceship on Mars while hammered. Only at WDW! Spaceship Earth was our last ride for the trip, a nice bookend as it was also our first but yet still bummed me out. But independent of each other both Frances and I made stupid faces for the camera which lifted our spirits.

Arriving back at the TTC from the monorail at about 12:45am I was amazed at the quantity of people jamming the place after the end of MVMCP – particularly the number of kids younger than Nora who were either throwing an understandable tantrum or were just sacked out in strollers or on parents’ shoulders. There’s no way in the world that Nora could have made it that late and evidently some other’s kids were the same way but the parents simply chose to overlook that fact. To each his own, I suppose.

We went to bed down about the fact that we’d have to wake up the next morning and pack our bags but happy about a really nice night at Epcot and a great day overall.

 

[tiaragirl]

I laughed and told her I’d have to remember that for future use: No, I’m not a fat guy, it’s just the material making me look like a fat guy. Hahahahahaha

I am sitting here DYING laughing. True, I'm pretty tired, but that was one of the best lines I've heard in awhile hahahaha.

 

[Saoirse1916]

I am sitting here DYING laughing. True, I'm pretty tired, but that was one of the best lines I've heard in awhile hahahaha.

Hahah -- cool, happy to entertain!

 

[Saoirse1916]

Day 7 – Rolling Home

Our morning consisted of quietly packing up our suitcases and heading over to the Contempo Café for some breakfast. Aside from Cinderella’s Royal Table, this was the only time that we ate a real breakfast at WDW and it was packed that morning. But we eventually tracked down a table which afforded us a nice view of the monorails zipping through the atrium.

After breakfast we headed to the Contemporary gift shops to pick up a few souvenirs for friends. While I was jazzed about my old school EPCOT Center mug and t-shirt I was also hoping to track down something resort specific from the Contemporary. I had seen a few things at Wilderness Lodge when we were there to eat so I was confident that I could score something relatively cool. No dice – nothing specific to the Contemporary at all. We did end up finding a nice Cinderella Castle Christmas ornament to commemorate the trip, however.

We headed out to the 4th floor observation deck to snap a few more shots and returned to our room to load out.

Our drive back home was a quiet one but clearly the highlight was finding a gas station with an entire rack of fake alligator heads for sale. It was made even more odd by the fact that we already own a fake alligator head.

Recap and a few extra photos

All in all, we had an awesome time. The room was really convenient and comfortable and I’m definitely going to order one of the pillows that they use for my house – I’ve tried about a dozen pillows and can’t find anything that fits my fat head properly, but the ones at the CR were perfect.

We decided that the next time we go back to WDW (soon, hopefully!) we’re going to have to take a longer trip – something in the neighborhood of 7-9 nights would suffice, I think. Despite jamming our days full of fun we didn’t get to see nearly everything we would have liked. We’d like to be able to have a resort/pool day and perhaps take the little speedboats out on the lake, spend a whole day in World Showcase, really explore Animal Kingdom, and see something other than Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. We’ll also have to check out Hollywood Studios and the water parks at some point but that might have to wait until Nora’s a bit older.

I liked the Dining Plan even though we definitely took a bath on it as we left 6 snacks and two CS credits on the table. We had intended to go back and stock up on snacks when we left but we simply forgot as we were loading out of the hotel. It was very nice not to have to worry about how much each entrée cost, and nice to see that we didn’t get blitzed by a big bill upon checkout. When we’re ready to plan our next trip we’ll have to reevaluate at that time and see if it’s a good value for us or not. We also learned the hard way to be sure and book our meals well in advance. While we had great food at all the TS restaurants that we hit we didn’t get to eat at a few of our first choices since we did most of our booking only 30 days out.

I was a bit disappointed in the lack of Epcot-, resort-, and (to a lesser degree) WDW-specific souvenirs available in the gift shops. I might be in a minority who feel this way, but I’m not looking for Disney material – I can get that anywhere. So much of Walt Disney World is one of a kind – even among other Disney Parks – so I don’t understand why the Disney merchandise and marketing departments would want to homogenize the swag. Sure, putting a Disneyland logo on the collar of an EPCOT Center t-shirt isn’t that offensive, but I don’t understand how doing so would save money. But perhaps that’s why I’m a programmer and not a salesman.

Driving home, I couldn’t believe how bummed I was! It was like being 11 years old on December 26th all over again. All I could think about was “man, the last time I saw that Florida Citrus sign we were only 20 miles from WDW” or “the last time I listened to that song was 3 days before we left…” Gotta go back again soon!

Most importantly, our daughter had a fantastic time – on the drive home she kept asking, “are we going back to Disney World?” My wife had to be the one to answer her because I was in the back seat weeping.

 

[Alison1975]

Seriously GREAT TR!

 

[Tiggerish]

Oh, wow, I totally enjoyed that!! It was like being there with you.

I loved the CRT princess pictures--it looks like Cinderella was just as moved by the experience as Nora. All of Nora's character interactions looked wonderful, and she seems like quite the character herself!

You made me laugh out loud three times: "we can't bank at this speed", "It's the Disney magic, not I'm a moron", and punching Tigger. Which is only a problem because I'm at work and contracts aren't supposed to be funny.

The longer I read, the wider my grin got, and then you broke me down again with the fake alligator heads.

Thanks for sharing your trip--hope you get back soon!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I totally sopped up every ounce of your report. Looooved it! You family is just plain adorable. There's no better word to describe y'all!

Our first trip with our boys (they were 7 & 8) was pure bliss...and entirely too short, too. The hubby & I clung to each and sobbed on the plane going home. We vowed to do all that we could to bring them back every year...which we have thus far. They're 13 & 14 now and love it every bit as much as we do. The majority of our trips are 9 nights & the most recent was 10. No matter how long it's never long enough. We tend to hit our stride in day 4. Once we get into the WDW "zone" it all zips by so fast. The day before we leave is always bittersweet and departure day is like doing a death march. I knoooooow. And I do just like you did with the last time I saw that sign...or the last time we listened to that song... I'm the worst about looking back. That's always a killer for me.

Glad y'all had so much fun. Contemporary is our favorite resort. Hurry back so you can write another report for us! :wave:

 

[Saoirse1916]

Thanks for the kind words, all -- glad you enjoyed reading my report. Writing it helped relive some of the fun and now that I'm back to the real world I've already started scoping out prices and availability for next year's trip.

 

[photolove19]

we have a fake alligator head at our house too!!!:ROFLOL:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

we have a fake alligator head at our house too!!!:ROFLOL:

I think I'm slightly weirded out with all these fake gator heads y'all have. I always walk waaaaay around those hideous things. Creepy.... Lol!

 

[Saoirse1916]

Hahaha -- yeah, that one was the wife's idea. She's from Texas and nabbed one on her last trip down to visit the family.