This being close to my 30th trip; it was the first for 6 of those in my group. They had no idea what to expect; their only theme park experience was a Six Flags type.
Monday: drive day. We left at 2:30AM and arrived Pop Century at 2:30PM. With 12 of us, we made a couple of extra stops than my husband and I usually would. But, we made a pact not to stress, as everyone was so excited and relaxed that we were finally on vacation. It was the first time in 5 years for my husband, and boys. It was the first time for my friend Mary's husband and kids. It was the first time for Mary's sister, Lisa,and you could say her fiance too; since he hadn't been in 20 years. Lisa's daughter had been one day before so she hadn't seen that much. We had three rooms at Pop Century @ $49.00 annual passholder's rate (mine). Check-in was a breeze; there were only two parties ahead of me. But just as 3PM came; the line started to back up. Great timing on my part! We got the 70's building, which was easier to park in the 90's lot. With an eight foot bed on our truck; it was packed. We couldn't have fit one more thing if we wanted to. Lisa and Mary, with their families, rented a van, and with eight people in the van; good thing we had a big truck to haul everything. After we unpacked, we changed and headed to Rainforest Cafe'. Wait times weren't bad, and we got two tables next to one another. Everyone enjoyed the restaurant and the food except for my husband. He ate two bites of his stuffed fish and that was it. It just wasn't his 'cup of tea', as he is used to LA. cooking. After dinner, the boys went back to check out the pool and us girls went to the Premium Outlet on 535, then Wal-Mart. The Character Warehouse there didn't have anything to offer that I saw last time. The beer at Wal-Mart is expensive! Three cases comes to $60.00!
Tuesday: Mardi Gras Day
We headed to Magic Kingdom, with our Mardi Gras jester headbands and beads. We had a great time wishing everyone a Happy Mardi Gras and giving out beads! If I ever go on Mardi Gras Day again; I'd like to dress in costume and just stand on Main Street handing out Mardi Gras stuff; it was that much fun. Wait times were no more than 5 minutes on all the major attractions in Adventureland, and Frontierland. We had the major attractions on that side of the park done by 11:30am. By that time though, we had to FastPass Peter Pan as noone was willing to wait. Cool. So we went to the lockers and got our sandwiches and drinks and ate (I made 10lbs of chicken salad for the trip). We got a spot for the 3pm parade to watch Lisa's son march with his school. We hightailed it to Tomarrowland, skipping the actual parade. I skipped Space Mountain for fear of not seeing a sudden turn and hurting my back more. I sat in the smoking section and got to talk to some great people and hand out more beads and even play a joke on someone's husband. After that, the adult men were pooped and wanted to go back to the room, even choosing to miss Wishes (It was 5pm). So us women stayed with the children and walked back over to Splash Mountain to let them ride again. Lisa and I sat out as I was in pain, and sitting there that long I noticed something under the bench across from me: it was someone's wallet. I immediately brought it to Lost and Found and the girl told me to wait. She wrote out a coupon for six free Cokes! I didn't expect anything at all; I only hope that if it would happen to me that someone would be that honest. We watched Wishes, hopped a boat to Wilderness Lodge, ate and watched the Electrical Water Pageant. Got back to our rooms at 10:30 to find the guys chilling out.
Next: Wednesday
Monday: drive day. We left at 2:30AM and arrived Pop Century at 2:30PM. With 12 of us, we made a couple of extra stops than my husband and I usually would. But, we made a pact not to stress, as everyone was so excited and relaxed that we were finally on vacation. It was the first time in 5 years for my husband, and boys. It was the first time for my friend Mary's husband and kids. It was the first time for Mary's sister, Lisa,and you could say her fiance too; since he hadn't been in 20 years. Lisa's daughter had been one day before so she hadn't seen that much. We had three rooms at Pop Century @ $49.00 annual passholder's rate (mine). Check-in was a breeze; there were only two parties ahead of me. But just as 3PM came; the line started to back up. Great timing on my part! We got the 70's building, which was easier to park in the 90's lot. With an eight foot bed on our truck; it was packed. We couldn't have fit one more thing if we wanted to. Lisa and Mary, with their families, rented a van, and with eight people in the van; good thing we had a big truck to haul everything. After we unpacked, we changed and headed to Rainforest Cafe'. Wait times weren't bad, and we got two tables next to one another. Everyone enjoyed the restaurant and the food except for my husband. He ate two bites of his stuffed fish and that was it. It just wasn't his 'cup of tea', as he is used to LA. cooking. After dinner, the boys went back to check out the pool and us girls went to the Premium Outlet on 535, then Wal-Mart. The Character Warehouse there didn't have anything to offer that I saw last time. The beer at Wal-Mart is expensive! Three cases comes to $60.00!
Tuesday: Mardi Gras Day
We headed to Magic Kingdom, with our Mardi Gras jester headbands and beads. We had a great time wishing everyone a Happy Mardi Gras and giving out beads! If I ever go on Mardi Gras Day again; I'd like to dress in costume and just stand on Main Street handing out Mardi Gras stuff; it was that much fun. Wait times were no more than 5 minutes on all the major attractions in Adventureland, and Frontierland. We had the major attractions on that side of the park done by 11:30am. By that time though, we had to FastPass Peter Pan as noone was willing to wait. Cool. So we went to the lockers and got our sandwiches and drinks and ate (I made 10lbs of chicken salad for the trip). We got a spot for the 3pm parade to watch Lisa's son march with his school. We hightailed it to Tomarrowland, skipping the actual parade. I skipped Space Mountain for fear of not seeing a sudden turn and hurting my back more. I sat in the smoking section and got to talk to some great people and hand out more beads and even play a joke on someone's husband. After that, the adult men were pooped and wanted to go back to the room, even choosing to miss Wishes (It was 5pm). So us women stayed with the children and walked back over to Splash Mountain to let them ride again. Lisa and I sat out as I was in pain, and sitting there that long I noticed something under the bench across from me: it was someone's wallet. I immediately brought it to Lost and Found and the girl told me to wait. She wrote out a coupon for six free Cokes! I didn't expect anything at all; I only hope that if it would happen to me that someone would be that honest. We watched Wishes, hopped a boat to Wilderness Lodge, ate and watched the Electrical Water Pageant. Got back to our rooms at 10:30 to find the guys chilling out.
Next: Wednesday
