Sorcerers, Spies and Superbowl Adventures - A February Trip Report

This trip began a very long time ago. In fact, over 15 months ago, I assumed that this trip would be our first trip back to WDW in over a year. But that hasn't been the case! Never the less - we were super excited to join my husband in Orlando for a conference Feb. 6 - 11. The reservations were made for the Beach Club (conference rate.) My husband's ticket was purchased for Tuesday and we were all set........ or so I thought.

Two weeks ago, my husband called and said he wanted to go to an additional 'meeting' in Orlando on Tuesday - the day he was supposed to arrive. He said we should all just drive down together on Friday.........so that he could go to the meeting on Tuesday...........hmmmmmmmmmmm.......... a meeting he 'had' to go to..... that we 'had' to arrive 3 days early for...... sounds like someone figured out they'd get more park time by arriving early! :D So we booked the Caribbean Beach at a great rate and added on a few more nights.

Friday, we left home, stopping overnight in Georgia. On Saturday, we pulled onto Disney property promptly at 3 pm. We only had time to check in quickly and throw our bags into the room, before we had to rush off to my son's 4:30 haircut appointment at the Barbershop in the MK!

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Hey! I know that place:

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We were getting ready to walk out the door when my daughter spilled a bottle of water on her outfit. She insisted she HAD to change clothes, so I told my husband and son to head on to the bus stop without us and to get on the first MK bus. I told them we'd be right behind them.

They were right on time to their appointment, but sadly, I missed the whole thing. :( It took my daughter and I a good hour to catch up with them with the whole outfit changing, waiting for the bus, etc.

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(Pictures of haircut to come - all are on my husbands phone at this time.)

It was a perfect evening in the MK though, so who can be sad???

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
By the time we got into the MK the boys were already in Adventureland, so we stopped for some popcorn before heading that way.

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MK was pretty busy though and we were still unsure of our dinner plans, so we headed out of MK and on to Epcot.

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My love affair with Disney lighting continues:
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Birds were everywhere in the hub (really in every park.) Circling, swooping - it wasn't good. Dear people who feed the birds - STOP FEEDING THE BIRDS!!!
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Special times guide with parade route inside:

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Must do castle photo:

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On the way out, I snapped some photos of my son and his new haircut in front of the Firehouse doors. The doors were closed, which was interesting considering what was behind those doors would lead to one of his favorite parts of this trip. This was the last time we saw them closed.

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More to come....
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Your daughter is PRECIOUS... I'm on board! Already sounds like it's gonna be a fun TR. :)

Thank you! Thanks for reading - I hope it lives up to expectations! :)

OH DARN...extra days in DISNEY..what ever shall one do!!!!!!! :D

I know right??? :lol: At first I was a little upset, because I already had my plans made. But then I was like - What am I thinking???? It's MORE time in Disney!!! It just went against my Type A, OCD plans laid out personality. :D

Yay! I'm in! And very intrigued about the Firehouse...:lookaroun

I think you'll love that part! I bet you've heard about it already. I found it's something all ages love.

Great TR so far. Can't wait to read more! BTW, I love your daughter's outfit. Very cute!

Thank you! My sweet mom made that outfit for my daughter for our December 2010 Family Reunion Trip. Very, very blessed to have a mom who sews!

Sitting here - in my room at the Beach Club listening to the Brittish Revolution play outside our balcony in the distance. I guess our balcony must face the World Showcase? :shrug: Feeling like the luckiest girl in the world. Hoping to put up a quick post before dinner - if not, I'll post again soon!
 

PartOfYourWorld

Well-Known Member
Can't wait to hear about the rest! Especially about what was behind those firehouse doors! ;) When I was there on Feb 1, we got there too late in the day and it was already finished and I was upset we didn't get a chance to try it! :(
 

LeCellier.Lover

Well-Known Member
YAY YAY! This sounds like such a fun trip! Your family is too cute :)
Can't wait to hear about how the thing went that's behind the firehouse doors because I haven't had enough time to read anything on it yet so I'll read about it here. Haha!
I'm so jealous you were in your BC room putting this up.... I have a trip planned for June but I want to go back NOW!! :lol:
Can't wait to read more! :sohappy:
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
ooooooo - you had me with Super Bowl :D Can't wait to see more!!! :wave:
Thanks! We did get to see the MVP Parade - which was awesome!


Can't wait to hear about the rest! Especially about what was behind those firehouse doors! ;) When I was there on Feb 1, we got there too late in the day and it was already finished and I was upset we didn't get a chance to try it! :(

Oh, Booooo! It is so much fun. I think it is there to stay - They have invested a ton of time and money into it, and the 'fan boys' (hope that doesn't offend anyone! :lookaroun but I don't know of a better term?) are already all over it. By our third or forth day, they were hovering at certain portals, hoping to trade for the cards they didn't have, etc.

YAY YAY! This sounds like such a fun trip! Your family is too cute :)
Can't wait to hear about how the thing went that's behind the firehouse doors because I haven't had enough time to read anything on it yet so I'll read about it here. Haha!
I'm so jealous you were in your BC room putting this up.... I have a trip planned for June but I want to go back NOW!! :lol:
Can't wait to read more! :sohappy:

Thank you! I totally understand. I just left 3 hours ago, and I want to go back too! :lol:
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
OK. So, we left the MK by monorail (of course!) and switched over to the Epcot track.
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Aaaaaaannnd..... how my children will remember their father. With the mini computer, always working........ :lol: I tell him all the time, his neck is going to get stuck that way.
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Epcot!

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Once inside, we headed straight for Mouse Gears to recharge the kids gift cards. They each get a set amount each trip to spend however they want. Inside Mousegears, there was a wall of phone covers - I've never seen so many! I had no idea they were so popular. But Disney must sell a ton of these.
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My daughter couldn't even make it out of Mousegears without making a purchase - she chose this Minnie Mouse art set:

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that she played with in line for Soarin.

Gift cards in hand, we headed over to the Land. The wait for Soarin was only about 40 minutes, but we were pretty hungry, so we decided to head for Sunshine Seasons first. Yummy as always:

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After dinner, the wait for Soarin was down to 30 minutes, so we hopped in the stand by line. We only waited through 2 or so games:
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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
When we got up to the front of the line, disaster struck. The people in front of us were kind of a jumbled mess of a group - their kids kept getting behind our kids (watching the games, etc.) and the CM letting people through the line asked if we were with that group - my husband jokingly said 'yes' and she said "okay, go on through to Terminal 2 then." My husband then admitted we were not with that group and she asked us to wait - so we were literally the first people in line.

The CM let the few Fastpass people waiting go into 'Terminal 2.' Immediately after that, the CM's phone rang - Terminal 1 was down. Boooooo :( We waited while Terminal 2 was emptied, then those in Terminal 1 Theater were emptied, and THEN when those waiting to enter Terminal 1's theater were brought over and the announcement was made that the new wait time for Soarin was 2 hours :eek::eek::eek: We asked if we could just get Fastpasses for later in the week. We could have waited another 30 to 40 minutes just for those in front of us to clear and we were going to be there all week. They gave us an awesome Fastpass good until the next week and we were out of there!

I was worried Living with the Land would be closed by the time we got out of line, but it was still open. It was fun to go through it at night!

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Sorry - some of my photos are out of order:

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Hello up there, Garden Grill diners!

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Sooo fuzzy, but the dog was missing off the front porch - but was still barking. My kids said he must have been inside. :lol:

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After LwtL, my son wanted to ride Test Track - which my daughter wants nothing to do with - so I headed off with my son to Test Track, while my husband and daughter headed for Mexico and 'the Donald ride.'

We stopped at Club Cool on the way to Test Track:

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After Test Track, we headed towards the World Showcase and Germany. I had told my husband we would meet up in Germany, because I wanted to get something yummy from the caramel shop. :) When we got aaaaalllll the way to Germany - there was no husband and no daughter. A phone call confirmed they never left Mexico, and had found a great spot to watch Illuminations. My son and I grabbed some yummies from the caramel shop and watched Illuminations while walking back toward the entrance to World Showcase.

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After Illuminations, it was time for the bus:

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My daughter was loving her art set! While waiting for the bus back to Caribbean Beach, we met our first tour group. A big group from England staying at Caribbean Beach. We discovered via the tour group leader that tour groups were no longer limited to the All Stars and Port Orleans. He said that virtually every level and resort was open to them now - it all depended on how much the group wanted to spend or (more likely) how long the group waited to book. He said the group he was with waited so long to book, he was afraid they were going to have to raise enough money (it was a school group) to stay at the Grand Floridian. :eek::D

It was true though that Caribbean Beach was crawling with groups. Brazilian, UK, and there were even 3 tents set up in one of the parking lots for a cheer/ dance team competition. :eek: So just be aware if you are booking Caribbean Beach.

We had zero problems with them though, and headed to our room for a nice quiet nights sleep.

Big day tomorrow - we meet Merlin for the first time!
 

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 2 - Superbowl Sunday (Sunday..... Sunday....)!

Sunday dawned bright and beautiful! We weren't up early, but I'd say we were up by 8ish. Shockingly, this was our earliest morning of the trip.

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My how things have changed! I remember when my kids never slept past 6:00 am, even when we stayed out late. But Caribbean Beach is such a quite resort, (even with all the tour groups) and hey, we are on vacation!

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I got the kids dressed and sent my husband and the kids over to the food court to eat breakfast, while I got ready and straightened the room (hadn't had time to really unpack the night before.) We were a pretty good walk from the Old Port Royale/ food court/ gift shop/ big pool again, but we really didn't mind. It was only a 5 minute walk. We were right next to a quiet pool - which we never used - but it was nice to have it if we wanted/ needed it.

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Everyone came back with my meal, I ate it quickly, and we were off to the bus stop!

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While at the bus stop we met our first 'first day on the job' CP CM. It was a fun time to be at WDW and interact with the CM's. We met many, many CM's who were starting their first week on the job. I guess they spend all of January training and by the first week of February, they are out on their own! This guy seemed to be keeping some type of bus stop record for the transportation dept. and was from California! :eek: He and his girlfriend had both driven from So. Cal to work at WDW. Neat stuff!

Headed to AK! The bus was pretty full - this was my view standing up:

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Once we were through the gates, my husband and son set of for Kali River Rapids, promising to call when they were through and my daughter and I headed slowly towards EE and fastpasses for everyone.

Along the way we met Flick (Flik?) -

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Asia!
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I had forgotten to have my family bring me coffee from the food court and while I was well rested, I was a tad bit worried I would get a headache if I didn't have my daily cup of coffee, so we stopped at the Tea Company to grab a cup of joe.

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We went right around the corner and started our Conservation stamp passport thingy (that's what everyone calls it right? :lookaroun:D)

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About this time, my husband and son called to say that Kali was closed all week (doh!) and they were already in the standby line for EE.

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We headed that way, got the fastpasses and a Mickey bar for my daughter:

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After the guys got off of EE, it was time for Nemo!

We were pretty much front row!

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erstwo

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After the show, we were all ready for lunch, so we headed towards Yak and Yeti. We wanted a family picture in front of Everest, but as we approached, the Photopass Photographer walked away. :(

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Oh, well - on to lunch!

It was crowded at Y&Y CS, but not too crowded in the park overall.

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After lunch, we headed into Dinoland. My son really, really, really wanted to try the Primeval Whirl. He hadn't had a chance to ride on it in December of 2010 (he went back to the hotel sick) and in all of our visits since, we've never made time for it. While he and my husband went to Primeval Whirl (most overrated attraction in all of WDW in my opinion!) my daughter and I did some shopping.

I love this shirt!

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And these two are my childhood:

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As much as Dinoland may not 'fit' into AK, it is themed really, really, really well. I LOVE all the details!

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