Trip Report It can only go up from here

TheMouseFan · Dec 7, 2013

Great report so far! I love your morning pics of Coronado Springs, they are gorgeous! I also am a big fan of Animal Kingdom. I am lucky in that all three of my kids enjoy being there also, so we don't have to rush even when we have them with us, but this last trip without them was nice and relaxed and we noticed a lot of little things that we hadn't seen before. Can't wait to read more!

Rob562 · Dec 8, 2013

Lyear said:
I remembered hearing about a hidden path that ran alongside the path from Africa to Asia. I wasn't even sure if this existed anymore, or had ever existed. We decided we would look for it. We found a paved path that no one else was on. Was this the hidden path, or just an extra path? If it was the "hidden path", it wasn't the most hidden. We did see a small waterfall.

I suppose if there is a more hidden path, it's too hard for us to find.

The true "hidden path" has since been removed. (Well, both ends have been heavily covered by bushes, and since it's not it use the path itself has gotten grown over) It branched off the upper paved path that you found and crossed the stream in your photo via stepping-stones and then re-connected at the back of a small roofed shelter that I think is a smoking area now.

Lyear said:
We then see another path that goes down towards the water between Africa and Discovery Island. This appeared to just be a photo op for the tree, but we were able to see under the bridge into some construction. Is this the new Avatar Land?

That's the new home for the Festival of the Lion King show. It'll be moving in there in a few months. Avatar will be built where Camp Minnie-Mickey is now. (Hence the reason for having to move FotLK)

-Rob

Lyear · Dec 8, 2013

TheMouseFan said:
Great report so far! I love your morning pics of Coronado Springs, they are gorgeous! I also am a big fan of Animal Kingdom. I am lucky in that all three of my kids enjoy being there also, so we don't have to rush even when we have them with us, but this last trip without them was nice and relaxed and we noticed a lot of little things that we hadn't seen before. Can't wait to read more!

Thank you Mouse Fan. Coronado Springs is very good for photographs. Once we saw the resort in sunshine, we realized how beautiful it was.

Rob562 said:
The true "hidden path" has since been removed. (Well, both ends have been heavily covered by bushes, and since it's not it use the path itself has gotten grown over) It branched off the upper paved path that you found and crossed the stream in your photo via stepping-stones and then re-connected at the back of a small roofed shelter that I think is a smoking area now.

That's the new home for the Festival of the Lion King show. It'll be moving in there in a few months. Avatar will be built where Camp Minnie-Mickey is now. (Hence the reason for having to move FotLK)

-Rob

Thanks for the insight Rob. Once I read this I remembered that Festival of the Lion King is going back there, so that makes a lot more sense. Interesting to hear what happened to the hidden path. Thanks for following.

Lyear · Dec 8, 2013

Our bellies were full, very full actually, and we were on our way to Everest. We walked through discovery island, around the tree and the entrance to the bug theater, and made our way across the bridge to Asia. Here is another area where they just got the theming so right. So many details.

Asia was really crowded, so I didn't really feel I could get too many pictures without being in everyone's way. Once we got to Everest, the fastpass line was moving, so again, few pictures. I took this one during a brief stop, but all I really got was the glare of the glass.

Everest was everything I remembered it being. A very good ride overall. The Yeti was very dark and not moving, but I wasn't expecting anything different. I don't know if it's because I'm getting older, or because I had a very full stomach, but this ride got to me. It got to Sara too, who had been feeling dizzy on and off since the plane. The line was only 20 minutes long, but we decided we had had enough Everest for the day. A very good ride, just wasn't feeling it today.

We wanted to do something that didn't involve a lot of motion, so we went back to it's tough to be a bug. We got there just as the previous show had started, so we had a lot of time to kill. Photos!!!

We like the comical theater flyers they have up. Makes you laugh, and gives you something to look at. Sara at this point was getting tired. She found a nice comfy spot and set up shop there until the doors opened.

I meanwhile was a daredevil and risked getting thrown out of the park by putting on my bugs glasses early.

Photos really didn't come out too good down there. The show is good for what it is. Not groundbreaking, not the best attraction there. But funny, and a good sit in the air conditioning. Sara and I only ever fell for the hornets once, and we're always sure to be on the edge of our seat for that section since.

As we exited, I realized how global Disney World truly is. I heard 3 different families around me all speaking different languages. I'm pretty sure one was French, and another was Russian, but not sure at all. I'm sure some people might complain about this, but I like it. I think it's neat that people can come and enjoy Disney even if they don't understand the full language. Disney seems to have a truly global appeal and understanding.

We decided to spend some time on the different discovery island trails. We were planning to see Nemo at 3pm, so we had a good bit of time to walk around. Saw a good bit of new stuff, and went to new places we had never been before. This was actually quite a fun part of the day. We would go back these trails that looked like they were just extra areas for seating, go around a turn, and be confronted with a waterfall or kangaroos. Every once in a while we'd run into a rope that read cast members only, and need to turn around. They call it discovery island, and honestly there is a lot to discover if you have the time. Ok, that's a lame line, and I apologize for it.

The kangaroos looked hot. It was the middle of the day in Florida, who could blame them.

Above the tough to be a bug line.

It was now about 2:30, and we decided to head towards Nemo. We had heard you had to get there early to get a seat. On our way we ran into this person and her water paintings. We had heard about this on the magical express bus, and it was fun to actually see it happening in person. The kids in the area really seemed to like this.

We rolled into Nemo, and the theater was actually pretty full already. We sat pretty high, but got a seat towards the middle. It was going to be a little while before the show.

ginadee · Dec 8, 2013

Love your pics. I just got back and feel like Im reliving it in your TR. Hate you didn't get hot chocolate. That is what I refilled my mug with whenever I could. I always like to stay somewhere different if I can and wanted Coronado this visit but wasn't available. It does look gorgeous.

lbrad · Dec 8, 2013

Lyear said:
By the time we finished packing it was almost 11pm. We went to bed, knowing it was going to be a short night. The alarm went off at 2:45am. We got up and ready, put the suitcases in the car, and by 3:45am we were on our way to Disney!!!

We live in York, PA, which is about 1 hour north of Baltimore. On previous trips, we had a friend or family member drop us off and pick us up at the Baltimore airport. This time that didn't work out, so we had to do long term parking. This meant we were driving down ourselves. The drive to the airport was very uneventful. I think we saw a total of 3 cars until we were within 5 miles of the airport. I did my best to keep myself from dozing off as it was black all around me.

Around 5am we were pulling into the Econopark parking lot. We loaded a bus to the airport, and arrived in plenty of time for our 7:10am flight. Since we had time before our flight, my lovely wife Sara enjoyed a Starbucks muffin for breakfast.

The day before our trip, Sara had gotten her nails done in honor of the occasion. These became a conversation starter wherever we went.

We flew down on Southwest. We had done this several times before, so we were familiar with their A,B,C tier type boarding policy. At 7:10am the day before (24 hours in advance), I had gone online to check in for our flight, and was shocked to find we were in the C group. I'm still not sure how that happened. We had always been A, or one time B before. I was very concerned that we were not going to be able to sit together, especially seeing the line of people ahead of us.

After a long wait, we were finally cleared to board. We went past row after row after row that was full. Finally, 3 rows from the end we found seats together. Yay for being able to fly to Disney together! The flight was fairly uneventful, we even got to watch some Today show on the way down.

Once we arrived, we waited a long time to finally be able to leave the plane. Once we reached the terminal, we discovered the Orlando airport was unusually crowded today. It seemed we were dodging people everywhere. We made our way over to the little monorails they have.

Once we arrived at the main building, we got lost. It had been a long time since we had been there, and we didn't exactly remember where to go. We would normally see cast members in the main area, but didn't come across any this time. We remembered our agent at AAA saying the magic express shuttle was on the B side, so we went that way. It seemed we covered about the entire length of the airport before we saw these beauties...

We had our magic bands on, and it was a really quick process getting through and into the right line.

We shared a bus with the All Star resorts, which got dropped off first. On previous trips, I always seemed to find myself being impatient with transportation. I always felt that a bus should be there immediately and should take me exactly where I wanted to go (why I thought I should be so privileged I don't know). I realized that this led to a lot of frustration that really wasn't necessary. Let's face it, anytime you're using public transportation anywhere, there's bound to be a few hiccups that cause delays. I went into this trip telling myself I was going to enjoy the journey and not get upset about things I couldn't control. And for the most part, I was successful doing this on the trip. One benefit of going to the All-stars first was that we got to scope these out (through a bus window). We think when we eventually come back with Luke in the future, we will probably be staying at one of the value resorts, and since he's such a big Buzz and Woody fan, we figured the toy story area at All-Star Movies could be a good pick. Didn't get to see too much from the bus window though.

Eventually we finished our stops at the 3 All-Stars, and made our way to Coronado Springs. We had arrived at our home for the week.

OMG!!!!We live in YORK, PA!!!
We missed you by 1 day. We left for WDW Sat Nov. 23rd & came home Sat. Dec. 30th. We flew out of BWI!
It is a small world

We were on the Disney Dream for 3 nights. We celebrated our 25th Anniversary Monday Nov. 25th. at Palo. Stayed at CBR for 4 nights after the cruise. We had a magical trip!!
Enjoying your TR - neighbor

Lyear · Dec 9, 2013

ginadee said:
Love your pics. I just got back and feel like Im reliving it in your TR. Hate you didn't get hot chocolate. That is what I refilled my mug with whenever I could. I always like to stay somewhere different if I can and wanted Coronado this visit but wasn't available. It does look gorgeous.

Thanks ginadee. I could say the same thing about yours. I finally did get some hot chocolate when we ate at crystal palace, and it was very good.

lbrad said:
OMG!!!!We live in YORK, PA!!!
We missed you by 1 day. We left for WDW Sat Nov. 23rd & came home Sat. Dec. 30th. We flew out of BWI!
It is a small world We were on the Disney Dream for 3 nights. We celebrated our 25th Anniversary Monday Nov. 25th. at Palo. Stayed at CBR for 4 nights after the cruise. We had a magical trip!!
Enjoying your TR - neighbor

Wow. York really seems like a hotbed for Disney fans. I moved here about 7 years ago, and have met more sold out Disney fans here than anywhere else. Congrats on 25 years, that is quite the accomplishment, and it sounds like you found the perfect way to celebrate it.

Lyear · Dec 9, 2013

So this will sound weird, but our first thought once Sara and I sat down in the Nemo theater was, wow, this is just like our church. I'm sure not too many people have thought that. We go to a church with a big stage, lights, etc (called LCBC), and it was funny that Sara and I had the same thought the moment we sat down.

While you were waiting, a very small Nemo would swim through the big bubbles on either side of the stage. It only happened like once every 2 minutes. Sara saw it first, and then it seemed I would always just be looking away at the wrong time. She called my attention to it at least 3 times with no luck. Finally I saw it myself, then it became where I couldn't not see it. Every time I looked up, there was Nemo.

Also around this time, I got pulled into iphone world again. There happened to be a football game on that I was interested in. I'm a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan, and I was missing the game, which is a very rare occurrence for me. This was a calculated decision.

The basis for the decision actually began on our first trip to Disney in 2005. The Eagles were playing on a Monday night, and our plan was to catch them at Espn Zone. Sara, my non-football fan wife, was kind enough to go along with the plan. The problem was that the place was packed. Couldn't get in. Ended up missing the first quarter and watching the rest alone in my room while Sara slept.

The next year, due to travel obligations, didn't get to watch them at all while at Disney.

Fast forward to 2007, and I decided I was going to head over to buffalo wild wings, off Disney property, to catch the game. It was close to downtown Disney and Sara planned to shop while I was doing this. It didn't really work out. BWW was packed, and the weather turned really nasty for Sara. Ended up in my room again, with Sara sleeping, only this time the game wasn't being shown on a local channel, so I was watching the scrolling scores at the bottom to get updates.

Here's what I realized when it came to watching the eagles in Disney, each time I made plans to see the game, it was like a little bit of the magic was taken away. One of the main reasons you go on vacation, and to Disney in particular, is to get a short escape from everyday life. In an ideal world, you're not thinking about work, errands you need to run, balancing the budget, etc. What I found is that by watching the eagles, it took me a half step towards the everyday world. It took me out of the magic of Disney, and back into the hum-drum of everyday life. Time that I could have spent doing things you could only do at Disney, I was spending doing something I do almost every week.

With that in mind, I decided I wanted to have this trip be truly magical, so I wasn't going to attempt to watch the game. And this strategy was successful for keeping me engaged in the magic, and ultimately (I would say) led to me having a better trip. Now, that didn't mean I wasn't going to at least check the score. I had checked it once or twice before without Sara seeing, but this time she caught me, and just gave me that look that all married guys know. The eagles were comfortably ahead (or so I thought) and I returned to the moment at hand.

I've only heard glowing things about Finding Nemo the musical, and after watching it I completely understand why that is. The actors/actresses do an outstanding job. The singing/dance work together so well, and they do a really good job of telling a 90 minute story (movie length) in about 40 minutes. My hats off to those who work in this production, it truly is remarkable. I would definitely plan on seeing it again.

The show ends around 3:45, and our plan is to try to catch the Jingle Jungle parade. We head towards dino land, then make the right towards discovery island. It's insanely crowded, just like a giant theater left out or something.

We keep getting separated, then work to get back together, then get cut off, get separated, and on and on and on. Very glad we didn't have small children with us. Thankfully Sara and I both knew where we were going, and we had made it discovery island with about 5 minutes to spare. As you might imagine for a parade, it was packed. There was no chance of us getting a front row seat. But that's alright, we knew the costs of watching the 3:00 showing of Nemo. We managed to find a spot near a merch vendor that we thought would allow us to watch it together.

I thought we were packed in fairly tightly, but I had no idea what was coming. Soon I look to my left, see the parade coming, and suddenly there's 2 times as many people trying to cram in to every available space. "Hi, I don't know you, but sure, it's ok if you get so close that you're actually touching me for the whole parade". Some kind family with kids was nice enough to wedge their way between Sara and me, and then others did the same. We ended up about 5 people separated. I weighed my options for getting over there. I really didn't think knocking over a dad with a 3 year old on his shoulders was the nicest thing. Sara and I looked at each other, shrugged, and realized this was our lot.

I had my Nikon camera ready and was hoping to get some photos, but I realized immediately this was going to be impossible. The sun was beginning to set to our left, at the exact point where the parade was coming through. Any photos taken that way would be nothing but sun glare. And I became aware of a new phenomenon at work in the smartphone/tablet world. Each time a parade "float" would come by, everyone around me would raise their device in the air and try to get a picture. It was completely blocking any shot I would hope to get, unless I wanted to try for some ultra cool shot of someone's tablet display as the parade went by. Everyone has heard of waves at sports stadiums, and I'm sure for people participating in the parade, it almost looks like a slow-moving wave of electronic devices as they pass.

Shortly after the show starts, the woman in front of me turns to me and starts talking. The music is really loud, so I can't understand what she is saying. Something about her daughter was there before. I turn around, and there's a young girl about 15 standing behind me. I realize that this is the daughter, and she's trying to get up with her mom. The mom is becoming somewhat agitated, however, I am completely helpless to move for her. I feel like a grain of sand in a very large hourglass. I'm trying to mouth "I can't" to the mom, but she seems to be getting more and more upset with me. It's so loud I can't say "hey, I have no problem with letting your daughter in front of me, but I'm kind of helpless to move at the moment". Eventually, the daughter kind of pushes her way between me and the woman to my left, and everyone is happy again (sort of).

Now with all this said, the parade itself was enjoyable. Not as enjoyable as a private viewing would have been, but last I checked Disney didn't have that as an option. The reason I really wanted to see this parade was how unique it is. Not just because it was a Christmas parade, but that it is uniquely Animal Kingdom. The artwork on the large animals is exquisite, and the music keeps with the Africa/Asia theme. All while incorporating some popular Disney characters. I managed to get a few not so good photos with my iphone near the end of the parade.

The parade ended, but we still had a few things to accomplish that day. Back to Dinoland.

lbrad · Dec 9, 2013

OMG!!! We are HUGE Eagles fans

I have had to plan parts of our WDW trips around their schedule ...lol !!!
The gods were with me this year as the Eagles had a "BYE" Sunday Nov.24th. WooHoo. Happy Anniversary to me

And we were home before kick off Sunday Dec. 1st. SCORE!!! Loving your TR & that the Bears beat the Cowboys tonight

Lyear · Dec 10, 2013

lbrad said:
OMG!!! We are HUGE Eagles fans I have had to plan parts of our WDW trips around their schedule ...lol !!!
The gods were with me this year as the Eagles had a "BYE" Sunday Nov.24th. WooHoo. Happy Anniversary to me And we were home before kick off Sunday Dec. 1st. SCORE!!! Loving your TR & that the Bears beat the Cowboys tonight

One of the thoughts I was thinking that Sunday was, why couldn't the eagles have their bye this week. I didn't share it above, but as we went into Nemo, it was 24-0. When we came out it was 24-16 and Washington was driving. I later found out what I missed, but the initial shock at that moment was pretty overwhelming. Thankfully they sealed the win shortly after this. Thanks for winning last night bears, but now you need to lose in two weeks.

Lyear · Dec 10, 2013

As we were walking towards Dinoland, we crossed under the bridge that is part of the boneyard playground. Sara commented how she had never been up there before, so we decided to check out the boneyard. It was a really nice playground, lots of room, lots of slides. Very well themed. Across the bridge is the actual fossil/dig area, and there were a lot of kids in there. We took a few pics from the top of the bridge.

We had fastpasses for Dinosaur between 4-5, so we went over there. Boarded very quickly (it was only a 10 minute standby line at this point). We've been on dinosaur several times before, and it's a decent ride. Definitely doesn't go in my top 10, but it's something we feel is worthwhile to do at least once a trip. I've got to say I do think Dinosaur is the most intense/scariest ride at Disney. There was a young girl in front of us who was freaked out. It's enjoyable, but I would imagine for small kids this might be a tough ride.

So we exit Dinosaur, and head into the Chester and Hester area. Everyone has their own opinion about this area. I told Sara I really didn't understand why it was there, or how it fit in, and she told me the detail of the backstory surrounding it. I guess it makes sense. But in a park that does such a good job with the Africa, Asia, Discovery Island, and Oasis areas, this one to me just seems cheap. It's hard to switch gears from being "I'm in Africa," "I'm in Asia," to being "Oh, I'm at some crazy carnival." I did notice that the carnival area seemed to be busier than I had seen it before. Before CM's would just be standing at their games, but now people were actually whacking a dinosaur and whatever else there is.

After our experience on Everest, we decided we weren't interested in Primevil whirl, the first time we hadn't done this. We took a few photos, and then made our way to the last attraction for the day.

And I had to get a car picture. It's just too much fun not to.

Sara didn't think it was that much fun, she didn't want to get a picture.

We were now heading to festival of the lion king. I'll cut the suspense and just say this is my favorite attraction in WDW. The park was actually open to 6 tonight (the latest it was open that week, and possible explanation for the large crowd all day). The final showing was at 5:30, so it was most likely an additional show to what the cast normally does in a day.

We get to the theater, and we have a seat outside waiting for it to open. Once it opens, we find a seat, and it seems like a really small wait until it has started.

I can't really put into words why I enjoy this show so much, but it probably goes back to my childhood. Lion King came out right around the time I was 13-14 years old, and was trying to be too cool for Disney movies. One weekend my younger brother (by a year) rented the Lion King (remember rental stores) and I sat through it. I loved it. At the end I was almost in tears. However, I couldn't show this, so I do the whole macho "Oh, that was so sad, ha ha" line that every guy tries when something gets to them. Since that time I've watched LK several times, and actually had a chance to travel to Africa when I was in college and see scenes just like out of the movie.

Something about the songs from the movie are so powerful. And the people who sing them in FOTLK, and the dancers, just knock it out of the park. The thing that got me this time was that this was most likely an extra show for the cast, and their last show of the day, but you would never know it. Everyone had a big smile on their face, and brought a lot of energy. No one was phoning it in. That really stood out to me, and kudos to the cast of the show for this. I, of course, am fighting back tears as it ends. Par for the course.

As we exit the theater, the park is closed. Everyone is making their way to the exit. Since we had such success last night at Epcot getting some night photos, I want to try the same thing here. I want to get a night time shot of Everest, as this is something we don't have. The plan was to enter Africa and make a right towards Asia. But trouble arose...

There was a CM on the bridge, and she was only letting people through who had a dinner reservation for Tusker House. However, she was nice enough to let me get a photo from the bridge into Africa.

Not quite what I was going for. Zooming in really didn't help

Oh well, something to remember for next time. We took our time on the way out, taking a few more photos.

And with that we had left. This would be our only visit to Animal Kingdom this trip, and it was a day full of great memories. We were now on our way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a dinner at Boma. Followed by an unexpected night of shopping (Whoo Hoo!!)

fractal · Dec 10, 2013

Love the report and big Eagles fan too! I also try to do my best to leave the "rest of the world" behind while at Disney but since we have been going during the summer, my biggest challenge is with work issues.

Crowds are bad enough, but rude people in crowds drive me crazy.

Agree with you on Dinoland ( could be so much better ), but for us Dinosaur is one of our favorites. It's amazing how as many times as I've been to AK, you show me a picture of the Tree of life from an angle I've haven't seen.

Weather_Lady · Dec 10, 2013

Your photos are beautiful! I've seen some of the same shots a hundred times before, but never as well-composed and crystal clear as your pictures.

Tiggerish · Dec 10, 2013

I'm really enjoying your trip report!! Your photos are great and the narrative is very entertaining!

disneygirl1 · Dec 10, 2013

I have to start of by saying I LOVE all the EAGLES love here! We are from philly and die hard fans... season ticket holders and all! GO BIRDS!!! My current situtation is that they flexed the 22nds game to 830 and we are in Disney! I had the whole day planned too! Was going to go to ESPN zone to watch some of the game but now I have to rethink things. We are flying out of BWI for the first time in 9 days. No lie I live 5 mins for Philly International, but BWI was a good $200 a person cheaper! I couldn't not save that kind of money. Our flight is at 6:25a, which means we are going to have a VERY early morning like you. I'm thinking we are going to need to leave by 2:30a. I know it should only take about 1 1/2 to get there but I'm not familar with the area so I want to make sure I give myself enough time. Flying SW too. Haven't flown w/them in a while, I hope we get a good boarding position!

Sorry to hear about Sara slipping. Those dreaded flip flops! When we were there in June, we finished up our say at POR. I was walking down the step in the rain and of course I had flip flops on and slipped down the entire flight of stairs! OMGdid that hurt! I think I still have the bruise on my behind! LOL!

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

lbrad · Dec 10, 2013

disneygirl1 said:
I have to start of by saying I LOVE all the EAGLES love here! We are from philly and die hard fans... season ticket holders and all! GO BIRDS!!! My current situtation is that they flexed the 22nds game to 830 and we are in Disney! I had the whole day planned too! Was going to go to ESPN zone to watch some of the game but now I have to rethink things. We are flying out of BWI for the first time in 9 days. No lie I live 5 mins for Philly International, but BWI was a good $200 a person cheaper! I couldn't not save that kind of money. Our flight is at 6:25a, which means we are going to have a VERY early morning like you. I'm thinking we are going to need to leave by 2:30a. I know it should only take about 1 1/2 to get there but I'm not familar with the area so I want to make sure I give myself enough time. Flying SW too. Haven't flown w/them in a while, I hope we get a good boarding position!

Sorry to hear about Sara slipping. Those dreaded flip flops! When we were there in June, we finished up our say at POR. I was walking down the step in the rain and of course I had flip flops on and slipped down the entire flight of stairs! OMGdid that hurt! I think I still have the bruise on my behind! LOL!

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

DH & I grew up just outside of Philly (we both went to Bishop McDevitt HS). My parents had season Tix when I was growing up. DH shared season tix for a few years with his buddies ... once our little ones came along it was too challenging to get to the games ... sure wish we had those season tix now

Hope you enjoy your Disney trip and can find a way to watch the game. We were just in WDW for Thanksgiving & DH and DS watched the Cowboys game at the lounge in The Wave @ Contemporary Resort. They loved it! Bartenders were awesome. They met some Philly locals/neighbors!!!
Flying out of BWI is great! SW is the best .. get online to get your boarding pass EXACTLY 24 hours before your departure time (unless you paid for Early Bird Boarding) & you should be fine!
Have a magical time

disneygirl1 · Dec 11, 2013

lbrad said:
DH & I grew up just outside of Philly (we both went to Bishop McDevitt HS). My parents had season Tix when I was growing up. DH shared season tix for a few years with his buddies ... once our little ones came along it was too challenging to get to the games ... sure wish we had those season tix now
Hope you enjoy your Disney trip and can find a way to watch the game. We were just in WDW for Thanksgiving & DH and DS watched the Cowboys game at the lounge in The Wave @ Contemporary Resort. They loved it! Bartenders were awesome. They met some Philly locals/neighbors!!!
Flying out of BWI is great! SW is the best .. get online to get your boarding pass EXACTLY 24 hours before your departure time (unless you paid for Early Bird Boarding) & you should be fine!
Have a magical time

No way! I went to Archbishop Prendergast, but transferred out of there to our local public school before I graduated! Those nuns and I did NOT get along! LOL!!! My dad, brothers and I share the tickets. Since my son came along, I slowly am losing getting to go to him. It's OK though! Tailgating might be my favorite part of home games! Although I pay for it the next day. Getting old stinks! LOL.

Thanks so much! I can't wait! Only 8 more days to go! This was a spur of the moment trip. My DS does not know we are going yet. This is part of his Christmas present. Best part is, driving to school today he goes you know this time last year we were leaving for Disney? I go I know I wish we didn't have to wait till May! He said ME TOO!!! Well little does he know that this time next week we will be getting ready to go!

Not sure how we are going to manage watching the game on the 22nd. I'm thinking I am going to have to rely on my brothers to text me updates! We plan on being at MK for EMH that night. As long as I can connect to wifi, I should be able to sream the game on my phone!

I have heard nothing but good things about BWI so I hope we have a good experience. We are flying out of there in May when we go too. I already have the alarm on my phone set for 625a the day before we leave so I can check in online with SW. I didn't opt for the early bird check in b/c I figured on a flight THAT early I would be ok checking in right at the 24 hr prior mark. I hope I am right about that!

Minnie_girl · Dec 11, 2013

Great TR! I love all the pics!

Lyear · Dec 11, 2013

Some very brief housekeeping (or should I say mousekeeping

). Sara last night tried to view this thread from her phone, and the photos were mixed up. The site was taking photos from previous posts and inserting them in my last post in place of the correct pictures. I'm not sure what was causing that. It looked fine on my phone and on the computer. If you are seeing the same thing, please feel free to let me know. If it's a widespread issue I'll try to edit the post.

Lyear · Dec 11, 2013

fractal said:
Love the report and big Eagles fan too! I also try to do my best to leave the "rest of the world" behind while at Disney but since we have been going during the summer, my biggest challenge is with work issues.

Crowds are bad enough, but rude people in crowds drive me crazy.

Agree with you on Dinoland ( could be so much better ), but for us Dinosaur is one of our favorites. It's amazing how as many times as I've been to AK, you show me a picture of the Tree of life from an angle I've haven't seen.

Thanks Fractal. I honestly think when it comes to rude people 80% are just naive, and only 20% of them are malicious. Maybe less. I think a lot of time people just fail to realize what they are doing and how it might impact others. I appreciate your tree comment, I guess there's always another angle...

Weather_Lady said:
Your photos are beautiful! I've seen some of the same shots a hundred times before, but never as well-composed and crystal clear as your pictures.

Thanks Weather_Lady. I honestly can't take too much credit as I'm just using the easy mode on the camera, or my iphone. I'm not anything near a professional, but I'm really glad they turned out as good as they did.

Tiggerish said:
I'm really enjoying your trip report!! Your photos are great and the narrative is very entertaining!

Thanks Tiggerish, I'm happy you're enjoying it. Thanks for following along.

disneygirl1 said:
I have to start of by saying I LOVE all the EAGLES love here! We are from philly and die hard fans... season ticket holders and all! GO BIRDS!!! My current situtation is that they flexed the 22nds game to 830 and we are in Disney! I had the whole day planned too! Was going to go to ESPN zone to watch some of the game but now I have to rethink things. We are flying out of BWI for the first time in 9 days. No lie I live 5 mins for Philly International, but BWI was a good $200 a person cheaper! I couldn't not save that kind of money. Our flight is at 6:25a, which means we are going to have a VERY early morning like you. I'm thinking we are going to need to leave by 2:30a. I know it should only take about 1 1/2 to get there but I'm not familar with the area so I want to make sure I give myself enough time. Flying SW too. Haven't flown w/them in a while, I hope we get a good boarding position!

Sorry to hear about Sara slipping. Those dreaded flip flops! When we were there in June, we finished up our say at POR. I was walking down the step in the rain and of course I had flip flops on and slipped down the entire flight of stairs! OMGdid that hurt! I think I still have the bruise on my behind! LOL!

Looking forward to reading more about your trip!

We need to start a Eagles and WDW fan community or something. Best of luck on dealing with the flex schedule. Wish I had a good option I could share with you. That's going to be such an important game, tough one to miss. Thankfully Sara's fall wasn't that bad, but the next day I did see a guy almost fall down an entire flight of stairs at Coronado. Scary. Best of luck with your flight, and I hope you have a great trip.

lbrad said:
DH & I grew up just outside of Philly (we both went to Bishop McDevitt HS). My parents had season Tix when I was growing up. DH shared season tix for a few years with his buddies ... once our little ones came along it was too challenging to get to the games ... sure wish we had those season tix now
Hope you enjoy your Disney trip and can find a way to watch the game. We were just in WDW for Thanksgiving & DH and DS watched the Cowboys game at the lounge in The Wave @ Contemporary Resort. They loved it! Bartenders were awesome. They met some Philly locals/neighbors!!!
Flying out of BWI is great! SW is the best .. get online to get your boarding pass EXACTLY 24 hours before your departure time (unless you paid for Early Bird Boarding) & you should be fine!
Have a magical time

I never thought about The Wave. I might have to look into that in the future. Sounds less crowded than ESPN. I always enjoy meeting Eagles fans out and about, actually met some that night in Boma.

Minnie_girl said:
Great TR! I love all the pics!

Thanks Minnie_girl. Thanks for following.

Trip Report It can only go up from here

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