December 3 - 11, 2004

December 3 – 11, 2004

Day 1 – December 3
We arrived in WDW at 10:30 PM. Not much happened this night. We just unpacked, ate, and got some sleep for the next day.

Day 2 – December 4
Today we started out a little late. My sister-in-law was having some problems with her pregnancy and had to go to the hospital. She and baby are doing fine. We spent the night at Downtown Disney and ate at the Rainforest Café. A tradition on our first day in Disney. Dinner was fun. Partly because of my brother’s crude drawings on the placemat. We headed back to Movies and got some sleep.

Austin at Rainforest

Day 3 – December 5
I wanted to start out early at the Magic Kingdom. I had heard Kim Locke was going to be filming the Christmas parade and I wanted to see her. Having 2 babies really slows things down so we didn’t arrive at MK until 12:00 PM. I wanted some info so I asked a CM when Kim Locke will be performing. She replied “who?” I said “who is going to be here today?” She said “Mariah Carey”. I looked at her a said “you’re kidding”. She looked at me funny and said “no, she’ll be performing in about 30 minutes”. I am a huge Mariah fan. I have been now for 14 years. Last year was the first time I was able to see her live. To see her again was a shock and just the greatest thing ever. I rushed over to the castle stage. I watched as all the green wristband-ers took their places. I asked a CM how I can get in and she replied “only if you have a green wristband”. Grrr…guess I’d have to watch from the side. About 3 minutes later she says to me “the rope is open so if you want in, go now”. What a great woman. I grabbed my sister-in-law and ended up in the 3rd row to the left of center stage. As soon as Mariah came out I started crying…just a little. She looked beautiful. She performed “Joy to the World” 3 times. To my surprise a camera man was right in my face taping me. Can’t wait to see how stupid I look. LOL After that I was on Cloud 9. We were there until closing and ended up seeing 2 shows and getting on 2 rides. It’s amazing how 2 babies slow things down. Not that I’m mad about that…they’re my world. We headed back to the hotel and met up with my brothers for dinner at the food court. They had spent the day in Tampa attending a Bucs game. They had a great time and my brother Jess was also on Cloud 9.

*Will post pic tomorrow*

Day 4 – December 6
Today we went to Sea World. My mother’s friend works at the park and was able to score us some free passes. We rode the coaster and my sister-in-law and I shot my brothers with water canons as the rode past on Atlantis. We went to see the Shamu show. I love seeing Shamu. I think the babies enjoyed it too. We played some carnival games and we won quite a bit. Then we fed the dolphins. I can’t believe I actually touched the fish. I also got to pet the dolphins. Unfortunately the dolphin show was closed. My cousin’s brother is a trainer and if not for the show’s vacation, we could have been taken behind the scenes. That would have been so much fun for the babies.

Our Prizes

 

[OliveMcFly]

Day 5 – December 7
Today we just sat by the pool. It was nice to be in some heat. I also got some reading done. About 4:00 we headed over to the Poly for the Luau. We’ve been attending the Luau’s since we were all little and we love them. I had the chance to take my nephew up on stage since his birthday is in December. He just kept looking at the hula girls. After the Luau we headed over to the Contemporary and did some shopping. We walked out on the balcony and watched Wishes in MK. This was such a cool spot. You could even hear the Wishes theme music.

Austin & Kenzie at Luau

Day 6 – December 8
We started out the day with breakfast at Kona. My brothers couldn’t live if they got to WDW and didn’t eat Tonga Toast. After breakfast we headed to Epcot. The first ride we hit was Mission:Space. This was my brother Jess’s first time. He loved it. We headed over to Test Track and right as we made it to the front of the line the ride broke down. At least we were given ‘return anytime’ passes. After my 27 yr old brothers frolicked in the water play station we headed to World Showcase. Mexico was first. We all love the Mexico ride. Despite my injury, being hit with the wheelchair courtesy of Jess, we rode the Maelstrom and went to China for lunch. This was such a great change. No burgers or chicken fingers. I finally got to see the American Adventure. It really was a great show. I fed my niece while waiting for seats. She decided at that time to p-e-e on me. LOL Of course we had to stop in France for desert. We haven’t missed that in about 5 years now. We headed back to Test Track and left for the hotel. This was one of our longest days and we were all really tired.

The boys after playing in the water

Day 7 – December 9
We spent today at Magic Kingdom. Today went very smooth. We got a lot more done than we did on the 5th. We stayed for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party and ate at the character dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. I never ate there but I have to say it was good home cooked food. My nephew and niece met Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and Donald today. Austin, who is 1, did very well. He grabbed noses and just laughed at them. Kenzie, who is 3 months, was too small to react. Minnie actually held her on her shoulder to stop her from crying. It was so sweet. We did some shopping at, where else, the Emporium and got back to the hotel at about 2 am. Since we got in so late we decided to skip the character breakfast at 7am.

Babies with characters

Day 8 – December 10
Today we went to MGM. We started out a little late. No one woke me up at a decent hour and of course I was the last one ready. Grrr! We hit Rockin’ Rollercoaster and then Tower of Terror. I had to buy our TOT photo. My sister-in-law and I have our arms in the air enjoying the ride while my brothers have a look of fear on their faces. It was great. They are really scared of heights but they will never refuse to ride. We went to 50’s Prime Time Café for Lunch. This is one of my favorite restaurants. I didn’t eat all my lunch and my brother Sean told me to put my napkin over my plate. He did and sent it to the end of the table. The waitress thought this was hilarious. She made everyone put their fingers in the air and shake them at me while saying something like “shame on Megan”. Thank goodness I’m not the type to get embarrassed easily. We all ordered the Smores and shared. I did really well, I ate half. That was good for me at least. After lunch we rode the Great Movie ride, Muppets 3D, and went to the Osborne Spectacle of Lights. I enjoyed seeing the lights but it’s a far cry from the original. I’m thankful MGM brought then back though. We headed to Downtown Disney to finish our shopping. I bought very little this trip because most of my family was with me. I also got a lot of Christmas shopping done. We went back to the hotel and packed. I finally made it to bed about 2 am and woke up at 4am. It was off to the airport and home to this state of depression called Pennsylvania. I also got another souvenir out of this trip. A week long flu. Thanks AirTran. LOL I am now suffering from Post Disney Depression.

Tracy, Sean, Jess, Meg

Thanks for reading my trip report. I know it was long but it was a fun trip. I’m looking forward to reading some of yours. Merry Christmas All! :xmas:

 

[jordanyosh]

Great trip report. You are fortunate to have what looks like great relationships with your siblings. Treasure those times together.

My roommate is a Claymate too. So it's funny to read the Clay updates in your signature.....She's been to 8 concerts so far with 2 more scheduled by the end of this year. She flew by herself and went to the concert by herself in Raleigh...the one with Kelly and Clay...Her boyfriend and I think she's nuts, but she quickly points out my obsession with WDW and I shut up....