Dreams do come true...November 6-11

Ok so we just got back from the World yesterday and I decided to start a little bit on my trip report today. Bear with me, as I will only be able to work on this at my mom's, I do not yet have my computer hooked up at my house.

Who: Myself, Brett (my 7 yo), and Stephanie (my BFF)
When: Nov. 6-11
Where: Pop Century/Wilderness Lodge
Why: Because the MD I work for took a vacation, so therefore, I had to take mine too! haha

This was our "super surprise trip" for Brett. We took advantage of free dining and cheap airfare, and have been planning for about 4 months. We kept it a secret up until we landed in Orlando on Fri evening (although he cheated and asked a guy at the gate in St. Louis where the plane was going b/c we wouldn't tell him...cheater lol)

My vacation technically began on Thursday at noon when I left work to meet Steph at my house. I had been preoccupied for a few weeks, and hadn't begun to pack and she came to help me stay focused so I didn't forget anything. On Fri I woke up at 4 am with my gum swollen completely over my tooth and hurting like you know what. Apparently, I had gotten something stuck down deep in my gum and didn't realize it. I was in a panic thinking I was going to have to go to the dentist, as this has never happened to me before. By the time we left though, it was better. But my service engine light came on in my car. I ignored it. At noon, we picked up Brett from school, and headed to Steph's parents house in Mt. Olive, approx. 1 hour from STL airport.

Brett in the car on the way to Mt. Olive

We arrived about 2 hr. before our flight, checked our bags, and went through security...all of which took about 10 min. So we had a little time to kill. We grabbed some dinner at Chili's.

And proceeded to wait for our DELAYED flight.

It only ran about 20-30 min late, so not bad. It was at this point my stomach started to bother me. Don't know if it was Chilli's or nerves, but either way, I didn't feel good so I took out my comtacts, using this little bottle of contact cleaner to put them in, which later proved to NOT be a good idea AT ALL. More about that in a min.

Boarding the plane

The flight was quick and uneventful. I like how flying from St. Louis to Orlando is so fast, as soon as you have made your ascent, it's time to go back down. I think you have maybe 10-15 min actually in the air. And Orlando is beautiful at night. I just love city lights from the air. I also love Orlando airport. I think b/c everytime I get there, I'm going to Disney lol. But we landed, made a quick stop to let Brett open the envelope to show him where we were going, and his face was priceless when I told him we were going to MVMCP. I don't have pictures, b/c I recorded it. But then that 1st tape disappeared from our room so now I have nothing :-(

They sent us our ME booklet in the mail, but only 2 luggage tags. We checked 5 bags. So we just picked up our bags at baggage claim. One of my suitcases had a HUGE hole burned in the side, and the plastic nubs on the bottom were melted. I don't know if they tried to set it on fire, or what. Luckily nothing inside was damaged or missing, I don't know how, but of course everything was closed and I couldn't report it. Duct tape is a wonderful thing.

Walking to the bus stop

Line for Pop Century

We were tired. It was almost 10:00 and I was mad about my bag and my stomach and tooth hurt and I was less than magical. Once we got on the bus, we had to wait for 30 min before we left. Thankfully, we were the first stop.

Checking in was easy, as I had already done it online. We were in the 80's building, which was fine b/c we were only staying the night. I felt bad asking the lady at the front desk what we should do about our bags the next day to get them transferred to the Wilderness Lodge, like I was saying "we're too good for this place" but really, I like the Pop. It's like all things Disney. I would stay there again if need be, but I am really spoiled when it comes to Disney resorts.

My bag weighed about a thousand pounds, so it was hard to wrestle it to the 80's building. But I was already in a bad mood so what difference did it make? We stopped to get our mugs and...

I LOOOOOVE this stuff! I thought it would just be cheesecake (which I love) but it's also red velvet cake (which I love more!) So the night wasn't a total wash lol.

Our room

 

[meganw1985]

We hit up AK next, since this would be the ONLY time we would have to go here :-( I really like AK. Heck, I love all the Disney parks! But it seems to not have as much to do as the others, so we kind of sacrificed it a little this trip. We hit up EE first, which for some reason I have NO pics of. I must've been video taping. It was a 10 min wait. Yeti was what I think you call B mode? I dunno. No movement, red eyes, flashing strobe lights. Not as scary as the first time I rode it and I ducked in my seat b/c I really thought he would grab me. We then rode Kali River Rapids, and the whole time in line Brett kept saying "mommy's gonna get soaked!" and laughing. Well guess who got a wave right in his lap!

Hahaha. I told him that's what he gets.

We were getting a little hungry by now, and went to eat at Flame Tree BBQ, which we love. Steph and I both had

And Brett had

Which means we all had ribs, b/c he barely ever eats anything. They changed their desserts here, and I couldn't get the delicious Disney chocolate cake that I love. They also moved all the condiment stations, and I had to walk a half mile to get BBQ sauce.

Anyway, next we decided to do something crazy. I have been terrified of the Dinosaur ride ever since it opened. I think I rode it once when I was in Jr. High, once in HS (b/c you can't act scared in front of your friends in HS), and once a couple years ago with my mom b/c she loves it (I didn't even watch b/c I had my face buried in her shoulder the whole time). Well we thought maybe it would be like Snow White, we were scared of it when we were younger, but not anymore. So we rode.

Nope. Still terrified. In the picture of us, you can't even tell it's me. I had my eyes shut and my ears covered, and screaming. I am too old to be acting like that. So I guess I won't ride again so I don't feel the need to lol.

Brett loves Primeval Whirl, so we got in line for it. These lines are SLOW and the queue is BORING. But we waited. It was maybe 20 min. The longest line we had the whole trip. It was fun. Little too much spinning, but I didn't get sick.

We got our first ice creams of the trip!

And I found this little beauty in the ground. Not only is it a hidden Mickey, it's a hidden Mickey EARS!

 

[meganw1985]

We sadly headed out, knowing we wouldn't be back til our next trip, whenever that would be :-(

We got back to our glorious room at the WL, and had the cutest little towel dog waiting for us! Brett arranged all of the friends in a picture. Dog, Santa Mickey, Chef Mickey, and Pal Mickey

We went swimming again, and waited for the geyser to erupt before we had to head out for dinner.

We went back to Epcot for our 4:30pm ADR's at Le Cellier

Brett LOVES mussels, so we ordered an appetizer of them. He had already eaten most of them before Steph and I got any.

 

[meganw1985]

Steph and I both got the 3 course meal, with cheddar cheese soup and prime rib. LOVE the prime rib.

Brett has food allergies to nuts. We have always handled his allergies well on our own on vacation, but when I made our ADR's online, it had a place that asked for any allergies so I checked yes and what they were. I didn't realize that everywhere we went the chef would come to our table and talk to us first. No big deal, I just felt like we were wasting their time, since I know what he can and cannot eat. The chef here was SUPER nice. His name was Brett too! He came out and asked him what he was going to order and he told him, and he said well I will personally make it especially for you and a special dessert and even brought it out! It's those little extras that you remember. Brett tells everyone about the chef with his name that made him a special steak haha. Although he didn't eat it, b/c he ate my prime rib instead lol.

We rode Soarin twice. One with FP's and once without. The wait was 15 min. I have never seen it with that little of a wait. We got in the first row in the right side both times. The first row was the best! And the CM working on the concourse was hilarious and was teasing Brett the whole time.

Waiting in line

We also rode Living With The Land for I think the second time this trip. I love this ride The Mickey shaped tomatoes are gone though :-(

We went back to HS and rode RNRC again, and Star Tours (we sat in the front row for the first time ever b/c we were the ONLY people in line, and I got really nauseous and don't recall this happening before)

We were SUPER tired, and it was late, so we went back to the resort.
Everyone was ready for bed.

We had ADR's at Whispering Canyon the next morning, but skipped those too in hopes of getting to Epcot for 8am opening. So we ate at Roaring Fork again.

I think we got there around 8:10 or so, so not bad. We did Test Track, Mission:Space, Soarin, SSE, The Seas, and I think Mission:Space again all before 9:30! What a wonderful morning!

We had some time to waste before we could eat at Fish and Chips, so we went to Club Cool so Brett could get some Chinese soda. He really likes this stuff. We surpassed Beverly, b/c it is nasty and I don't know why people want to drink it?

 

[meganw1985]

My dad requested a new yellow ESPN Zone hat, so we walked over to the Boardwalk to get it, as he doesn't request much and we were close. We went to the Beach Club first to get fruit tarts! YUM YUM YUM! My fav Disney snack! I didn't even take a pic b/c I already had it eaten when we got outside

It was time for lunch!

So we popped a squat on a bench in UK by the lake, and ate our delish fish & chips!

I went to Twinings tea so I could get some English breakfast tea and a couple boxes of Christmas tea We then made our way around WS starting with France so Steph could get a Grand Mariner slush, and then rode Maelstrom and Gran Fiesta Tour before heading out.

We stopped in Mouse Gears so I could buy my mom's birthday present and a few Christmas presents for Brett so Steph took him away lol. I also got me this little guy...

 

[meganw1985]

We needed to go back to the resort to take a nap and take care of some business since we were going to MVMCP this night and leaving the next day. The concierge printed out our Southwest boarding passes for us, and maintenance brought me some duct tape to try and fix my bag. We had 5pm ADR's at Ohana, so we got up about 4:15 to take the boat and the monorail to the Poly. It was delicious as always.

It was at this point the night started swirling down the toilet. I mentioned earlier that the lady at Chef Mickey's had used our DDP credits although we asked her not to. So Ohana was OOP. Over $90 for 3 people. Wow. I was so ticked. The waiter was also SUPER slow and we were on a smallish time crunch, since we wanted to make sure and get to MK by 6:30 for the castle lighting. We got inside about 6:15. So we were good there. The decorations were BEAUTIFUL!

The castle lighting gave me chills. It was wonderful and I made the mistake of thinking maybe the night wouldn't be so bad....

There were no lines, we rode BTMRR, HM, POC, and Magic Carpets, and then....it started to POUR. Apparently, there was a tropical storm somewhere that day, and we didn't know b/c you don't get the Weather Channel in Disney. We donned our ponchos, browsed Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe, and went to Chip & Dale's dance party @ Cosmic Ray's (which was a BLAST!)

 

[meganw1985]

Our plan was to watch Wishes @ 9:30, the Castle show @ 10:05, and the 2nd parade @ 10:30. They had already cancelled the first parade and the first castle show. We left Cosmic Ray's a little after 9, and went to the center to wait for Wishes.

It was at this point where we had a melt down. Apparently Brett had put his poncho in sideways, and his head was in the arm hole, so the rain was pouring inside. He was tired, wet, and standing in front of the beautiful castle crying that he wanted to go home. I had been waiting my whole life to go to this party, and was not about to leave. So we went to the Emporium and changed into some dry jammies (which I had planned on buying him for Christmas but they were needed NOW) lol.

The rain finally stopped just in time for Wishes, and all was well with the world again They cancelled the stage show @ 10:05 :-( so we didn't get to see it. We waited for the parade at 10:30, which started a little late but was so cute! We were stuck behind some people, but they let Brett stand in front of them so he could see. I really couldn't well, but that wasn't as important. I held my video camera over their heads and taped it. I think the gingerbread men with the little flat backs are so cute! And the toy soldiers and the reindeer!

Steph took pics with her camera and mine, but mine turned out all blurry...

We were so tired, so we went through the Emporium so I could buy my MVMCP t shirt and we could go to bed.

He crawled right in bed in his new pajamas and it took about .000002 seconds for him to fall asleep.

We had ADR's the next morning at Crystal Palace at 8:05 but were so so tired we skipped them too. I know. I have become one of those ADR skippers that take someone else's spot. But I had every intention of keeping them, until our schedule didn't allow. As a matter of fact, we didn't even go to a park this last day. We went to the pool until 10:30, and Brett got to be Sheriff of the day and open the slide.

He got to be the first one down!

At 10:30, we went back to our room to get dressed and finish packing up our last little bit of stuff and then sadly left our room to go to the lobby and wait for our 12:05 ME departure.

 

[meganw1985]

We had to stop and pick up a few more people at the Poly, and then headed to MCO. I was asleep on the bus before we got out of the Poly parking lot I think lol. Southwest was our first stop, and the line to check bags was LOOOONG. One of my bags was 58 pounds (50 is the limit) so I had to rearrange some stuff and got it to 48 Security was a BREEZE, St. Louis security is much stricter. We grabbed a bite to eat before heading to our gate. Our plane was 20 min early! So we didn't have to wait very long at the gate.

10 bags for 3 people

Waiting for takeoff

I like to see the sights from the air but today this is all I could see

So I promptly fell asleep and slept the whole 2 hours back to St. Louis. Steph's parents picked us up, we claimed our bags, and headed home. It was about 3 hours more til we got home, so we got in around 8:00pm.

It was a great trip as always, but not as smooth as I had hoped. We are still super tired, but can't wait to get back! We are considering buying AP's this year, because we tentatively have trip planned for late June, Sept, possibly Dec, and the following early June for my sister's HS grad. So if we can make all those trips, an AP would be worth it.

 

[accord99cutie]

Thank you for sharing your trip with us! It makes me even more excited for my next trip!!!

 

[CheltonJ]

Thanks for sharing such an excellent trip report sounds and looks like you had a fantastic time and you guys look so great.

It's made me really excited for my trip which is now just twelve days away!

 

[tiaragirl]

Even though it wasn't the smoothest, it seems like you all had a wonderful time. I love the picture of Brett in his PJs with the castle.. priceless.

 

[captain marvel1]

oh my god i was not far from ya. i was at shades of green and poly the same week. i could have taken brett to see peter pan and the fairy godmother among others. i have alot of friends who work down their and im excited i got my foot in the door. all i have to do i fill out the rest of my paperwork and im in luck to work their at either disneyworld or disneyland. i already have the go ahead from a chief manager to work their. he likes me and all i have to do is fill out the paperwork.

 

[UrbanDonovan]

oh my god i was not far from ya. i was at shades of green and poly the same week. i could have taken brett to see peter pan and the fairy godmother among others. i have alot of friends who work down their and im excited i got my foot in the door. all i have to do i fill out the rest of my paperwork and im in luck to work their at either disneyworld or disneyland. i already have the go ahead from a chief manager to work their. he likes me and all i have to do is fill out the paperwork.

Guy, no one cares. You're not impressing anyone.

 

[tiaragirl]

Guy, no one cares. You're not impressing anyone.

I don't know.. I'm pretty impressed with his writing skills. :animwink:

 

[Spinky]

Awsome Report I cant wait to go back I love all the pictures you all looked liek you had such a good time :xmas:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Ok so I had this productive day all planned and your trip report sucked me in!:ROFLOL: Great report, I loved all the pics and the story.

The Beverly...I think it is everyone's reactions that is the fun of it!

How long did it take you to remove your bracelets form MVMCP?:xmas: I bet that was hard.

Dinosaur freaks me out too! I always scream even though I know what is coming. My 9-year-old laughs at me.

I loved your pics of Wilderness Lodge, especially the walkway to the boat docks. I love that area...many great memories of boats to FW for Trail's end and Hoop Dee Doo Revue!

 

[nicnic]

Hi great trip report. Just want to ask how the little guy did without the stroller? You mentioned it in your report. We have been to Disney when my little girl was 3 & 4 and always used a stroller. We are going next year and she will turn 7 there, I say we take her stroller as she is not a big walker but my DH says no she'll be too old for it. I think we would have a better trip with it. Would you have used one? Thanks.

 

[Tiggerish]

Great report, thanks for sharing!

I, too, am scared witless by Dinosaur, and I was a grownup the first (and only) time I rode it!! :ROFLOL:

I admire the way you took the "bad luck" situations in stride, a couple of those were pretty terrible experiences--your video going missing? I don't think I would have handled that as well as you seem to have. And the dry pajamas story--way to take lemons and turn them into lemonade!! You got such a cute picture (plaid pjs + castle + MVMCP=priceless!)

 

[popsicletrees]

I really enjoyed your TR! I agree about the tonga toast. It was just too sweet for me. I'm glad that you were able to see the parade during your last night. Thank you for sharing!

 

[laward32]

Sounded like a great trip. A couple of meltdowns, but not too bad.
You got some great pics.
All the food looked so good.
I miss seeing the christmas decorations. Can't wait until next year, I will get to see them then.

 

[meganw1985]

Hi great trip report. Just want to ask how the little guy did without the stroller? You mentioned it in your report. We have been to Disney when my little girl was 3 & 4 and always used a stroller. We are going next year and she will turn 7 there, I say we take her stroller as she is not a big walker but my DH says no she'll be too old for it. I think we would have a better trip with it. Would you have used one? Thanks.

He did fine. I was surprised. By the afternoon he was getting tired and the pool break helped with that. And by 9 or so at night he was getting tired again and whiny so I did give a couple piggy back rides :lol: But it went a WHOLE lot better than I imagined. He's a really active kid though so that helps.