Trip Report - 8/16 to 8/23...

Sorry for military time useage - Old habits are hard to break. :)

16August2003 - Saturday
Awoke at 0300 for 0430 Limo ride to MDW – Chicago, Illinois. Arrived at MDW shortly after 0500, Check-In problem free. ATA flight 538 scheduled to depart at 0650, finally took off at/about 0720 – Arrived at MCO @ 1026. Tram to Baggage Claim, picked up our luggage & Tiffany Towncar Car Service of Orlando was there waiting for us. Arrived at our resort, POR at/about 1130ish. As expected our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our baggage @ went to the food court for lunch & wandered around the gift shop. Room was ready at/about 1330, so we went to our room & called for our luggage. Unpacked and chilled a bit until about 1600. Left for bus stop to MK for further transport to Cont and our CM @ Chef Mickey’s. Since we had a lot of time to burn before our 1815 PS, decided to ride the Monorail from MK to Poly, where I always stayed as a kid. Snapped a few pictures at Poly, then it was back on the Monorail to Cont and our PS. Finally got seated at/about 1830. Kids really got a kick out of the up close and personal they received from Donald, Chip, Dale, Minnie, Mickey & Goofy. It was about 1945 before all of the characters got around to our table and we departed via Monorail back to MK to catch the bus back to POR. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Animal Kingdom.

17August2003 - Sunday
Mickey woke us up at 0530. Grabbed a bite to eat and caught the first bus (0715) for AK. First through the turnstiles and headed right for Kilimanjaro Safari. Not all that impressed, in that we really had to look to see the animals, as they weren’t that active yet. Fast Passed (FP) Kali River Rapids. Went on Jungle Trek. Met Pooh & Tigger on the way to see The Tree of Life & It’s Tough To Be A Bug. Took in Tarzan Rocks, then grabbed a bite to eat. After lunch, headed over to Dinoland and Rode Dinosaur, Triceratops Spin and Primeval Whirl. Walked around the Boneyard for a while, then went souvenir shopping. Finished our stay at AK with another ride on Dinosaur. Departed for POR about 1700. Grabbed a bite to eat in the Food Court. Spent the rest of the evening, until about 2000 on Ol’ Man Island. No rain todayvery hot and humid, this would turn out to be the only day it didn’t rain well into the evening. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Magic Kingdom.

18August2003 – Monday
Mickey woke us up at 0530 again. Grabbed a bite to eat and caught the first bus (0715) for MK. First through the turnstiles again and headed right for Space Mountain. While in Tomorrowland, in no particular order, we rode Buzz Lightyear and caught Alien Encounter. Headed over to Fantasyland and hit Indy 500 Speedway along the way. In Fantasyland we rode Cinderella’s Carousel, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo & It’s a Small World. After It’s a Small World, we got a FP for the Haunted Mansion, and then grabbed a bite to eat. After lunch, we headed over to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean & watched the Tiki Bird show. Right about this time, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour, which would ultimately last well into the night. After the Haunted Mansion, we caught the Hall of Presidents. By this time (1700ish) we were thoroughly soaked and knowing we were coming back another day, decided to head back to our resort (The night parade had already been cancelled). Had Pizza & Hot Wings in our room and called it a day. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – EPCOT.

19August2003 – Tuesday
Mickey wake-up call at 0530 again today. Ate breakfast & caught the first bus to EPCOT. Among the first through turnstiles. Headed straight to Test Track, the majority of the crowd went left to Mission:Space. After Test Track, we watched Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Then it was time to cool off at Ice Station Cool. After sampling some of the drink offerings from around the world, we went on Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy and Cranium Command. For lunch, DW and DDs ate in China, while DS and I ate in Mexico. Torrential downpour started shortly after lunch (It would last until just before Illuminations started). Having done pretty much everything we wanted to do, we headed over to Innoventions to keep dry and take advantage of the hands-on attractions therein. Headed back over to World Showcase and caught the American Adventure. After American Adventure it was well past dinnertime, so we grabbed a bite to eat in Mexico. Did a bit of shopping and got in position for Illuminations. What a show. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Disney-MGM Studios.

20August2003 – Wednesday
Final 0530 wake-up call from Mickey today. Ate breakfast and caught first bus to MGM. Among the first through the turnstiles again and headed right for ToT. After ToT, in no particular order, took in Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Magic of Disney Animation and Star Tours. Grabbed a FP for Indiana Jones then ate lunch. Watched Indians Jones, then Sounds Dangerous and Muppetvision 3D. Got in position by the big hat for the Disney Stars & Motorcars parade. After the parade, we did the Backlot Tour. By this time, it was time to queue up for Fantasmic! Got seated middle section about ¾ of the way back. Grabbed dinner and waited for the show to start! What a show it was! Must not miss! Intermittent heavy showers today, nothing torrential as in days past. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Back to The Magic Kingdom.

21August2003 – Thursday
No early wake-up call today, inasmuch as we did majority of our MK must see stuff on Monday. Arrived at the Park shortly after 0930. Stopped and met a few characters (Rafiki, Baloo, Uncle Louie & Timon). Headed for BTMRR. After BTMRR, we headed over to Barnstormer and walked around Minnie and Mickey’s houses. Went on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and then it was back over to Splash Mountain. After Splash Mountain, it was time for lunch. After lunch, we headed back over to Tomorrowland and did Buzz Lightyear again and finished our day with Space Mountain, the lights were on and they offered to let us back on no waiting, after they fixed it, who knew when though, we passed. No night parade or Fantasy in the SKy scheduled for today, so we did some shopping and headed back to POR for some swimming. Mostly cloudy with intermittent heavy showers again today. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Downtown Disney.

22August2003 – Friday
No early wake-up call again today. Up around 0700 anyway. Ate breakfast and caught the bus to Downtown Disney about 0900. Shopped until we dropped until about 1300. Grabbed lunch at McDonalds. Headed over to DQ for some virtual reality fun. Did Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean & Cyber Space Mountain. Explored a few of the other floors. Departed DQ at about 1500 for what we thought would be a boat ride back to POR at 1530. Wrong! The storms moved in. Heavy torrential rain, lightning & thunder and the boats stopped running. A bit disappointed, as we were sort of looking forward to different mode of transportation than Disney busses. Back to the resort after a stop at Typhoon Lagoon, as if the bus wasn’t full enough. Ate dinner and commenced packing. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Departure Day.

23August2003 – Saturday
0700 wake-up call from Mickey. Ate leisurely breakfast & called for bell service about 1030. Spent the rest of the day wandering around the resort taking pictures. Ate lunch & it was time to go. Tiffany arrived right on schedule at 1215 for our 1451 departure from MCO. Checked in and made our way through security without incident. Departed more or less on schedule & landed a bit early (1610ish). Claimed our baggage and called for the limo. Limo arrived shortly thereafter and we were in our driveway at about 1730ish. End of our Magical Journey to the Walt Disney World Resort.
 
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Glad you had a good time despite all the rain as we had too. Dont you just love tiffany town car. They are the best!
 

RMJKS05

New Member
Original Poster
Originally posted by marypopmom
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Glad you had a good time despite all the rain as we had too. Dont you just love tiffany town car. They are the best!
...Tiffany was great, in that they were there waiting for us when we arrived & we're on time picking us up @ our resort when it was time for the Magic to end.

Not all that impressed with the mode of transportation. There were 5 in our party, so we got a full-size van. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought it was the driver's personal vehicle.
 
Originally posted by RMJKS05
Sorry for military time useage - Old habits are hard to break. :)

16August2003 - Saturday
Awoke at 0300 for 0430 Limo ride to MDW – Chicago, Illinois. Arrived at MDW shortly after 0500, Check-In problem free. ATA flight 538 scheduled to depart at 0650, finally took off at/about 0720 – Arrived at MCO @ 1026. Tram to Baggage Claim, picked up our luggage & Tiffany Towncar Car Service of Orlando was there waiting for us. Arrived at our resort, POR at/about 1130ish. As expected our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our baggage @ went to the food court for lunch & wandered around the gift shop. Room was ready at/about 1330, so we went to our room & called for our luggage. Unpacked and chilled a bit until about 1600. Left for bus stop to MK for further transport to Cont and our CM @ Chef Mickey’s. Since we had a lot of time to burn before our 1815 PS, decided to ride the Monorail from MK to Poly, where I always stayed as a kid. Snapped a few pictures at Poly, then it was back on the Monorail to Cont and our PS. Finally got seated at/about 1830. Kids really got a kick out of the up close and personal they received from Donald, Chip, Dale, Minnie, Mickey & Goofy. It was about 1945 before all of the characters got around to our table and we departed via Monorail back to MK to catch the bus back to POR. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Animal Kingdom.

17August2003 - Sunday
Mickey woke us up at 0530. Grabbed a bite to eat and caught the first bus (0715) for AK. First through the turnstiles and headed right for Kilimanjaro Safari. Not all that impressed, in that we really had to look to see the animals, as they weren’t that active yet. Fast Passed (FP) Kali River Rapids. Went on Jungle Trek. Met Pooh & Tigger on the way to see The Tree of Life & It’s Tough To Be A Bug. Took in Tarzan Rocks, then grabbed a bite to eat. After lunch, headed over to Dinoland and Rode Dinosaur, Triceratops Spin and Primeval Whirl. Walked around the Boneyard for a while, then went souvenir shopping. Finished our stay at AK with another ride on Dinosaur. Departed for POR about 1700. Grabbed a bite to eat in the Food Court. Spent the rest of the evening, until about 2000 on Ol’ Man Island. No rain todayvery hot and humid, this would turn out to be the only day it didn’t rain well into the evening. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Magic Kingdom.

18August2003 – Monday
Mickey woke us up at 0530 again. Grabbed a bite to eat and caught the first bus (0715) for MK. First through the turnstiles again and headed right for Space Mountain. While in Tomorrowland, in no particular order, we rode Buzz Lightyear and caught Alien Encounter. Headed over to Fantasyland and hit Indy 500 Speedway along the way. In Fantasyland we rode Cinderella’s Carousel, Snow White’s Scary Adventure, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo & It’s a Small World. After It’s a Small World, we got a FP for the Haunted Mansion, and then grabbed a bite to eat. After lunch, we headed over to Adventureland and rode Pirates of the Caribbean & watched the Tiki Bird show. Right about this time, the skies opened up with a torrential downpour, which would ultimately last well into the night. After the Haunted Mansion, we caught the Hall of Presidents. By this time (1700ish) we were thoroughly soaked and knowing we were coming back another day, decided to head back to our resort (The night parade had already been cancelled). Had Pizza & Hot Wings in our room and called it a day. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – EPCOT.

19August2003 – Tuesday
Mickey wake-up call at 0530 again today. Ate breakfast & caught the first bus to EPCOT. Among the first through turnstiles. Headed straight to Test Track, the majority of the crowd went left to Mission:Space. After Test Track, we watched Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Then it was time to cool off at Ice Station Cool. After sampling some of the drink offerings from around the world, we went on Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy and Cranium Command. For lunch, DW and DDs ate in China, while DS and I ate in Mexico. Torrential downpour started shortly after lunch (It would last until just before Illuminations started). Having done pretty much everything we wanted to do, we headed over to Innoventions to keep dry and take advantage of the hands-on attractions therein. Headed back over to World Showcase and caught the American Adventure. After American Adventure it was well past dinnertime, so we grabbed a bite to eat in Mexico. Did a bit of shopping and got in position for Illuminations. What a show. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Disney-MGM Studios.

20August2003 – Wednesday
Final 0530 wake-up call from Mickey today. Ate breakfast and caught first bus to MGM. Among the first through the turnstiles again and headed right for ToT. After ToT, in no particular order, took in Rockin’ Roller Coaster, Magic of Disney Animation and Star Tours. Grabbed a FP for Indiana Jones then ate lunch. Watched Indians Jones, then Sounds Dangerous and Muppetvision 3D. Got in position by the big hat for the Disney Stars & Motorcars parade. After the parade, we did the Backlot Tour. By this time, it was time to queue up for Fantasmic! Got seated middle section about ¾ of the way back. Grabbed dinner and waited for the show to start! What a show it was! Must not miss! Intermittent heavy showers today, nothing torrential as in days past. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Back to The Magic Kingdom.

21August2003 – Thursday
No early wake-up call today, inasmuch as we did majority of our MK must see stuff on Monday. Arrived at the Park shortly after 0930. Stopped and met a few characters (Rafiki, Baloo, Uncle Louie & Timon). Headed for BTMRR. After BTMRR, we headed over to Barnstormer and walked around Minnie and Mickey’s houses. Went on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and then it was back over to Splash Mountain. After Splash Mountain, it was time for lunch. After lunch, we headed back over to Tomorrowland and did Buzz Lightyear again and finished our day with Space Mountain, the lights were on and they offered to let us back on no waiting, after they fixed it, who knew when though, we passed. No night parade or Fantasy in the SKy scheduled for today, so we did some shopping and headed back to POR for some swimming. Mostly cloudy with intermittent heavy showers again today. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Downtown Disney.

22August2003 – Friday
No early wake-up call again today. Up around 0700 anyway. Ate breakfast and caught the bus to Downtown Disney about 0900. Shopped until we dropped until about 1300. Grabbed lunch at McDonalds. Headed over to DQ for some virtual reality fun. Did Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean & Cyber Space Mountain. Explored a few of the other floors. Departed DQ at about 1500 for what we thought would be a boat ride back to POR at 1530. Wrong! The storms moved in. Heavy torrential rain, lightning & thunder and the boats stopped running. A bit disappointed, as we were sort of looking forward to different mode of transportation than Disney busses. Back to the resort after a stop at Typhoon Lagoon, as if the bus wasn’t full enough. Ate dinner and commenced packing. End of the Magic for today. Tomorrow – Departure Day.

23August2003 – Saturday
0700 wake-up call from Mickey. Ate leisurely breakfast & called for bell service about 1030. Spent the rest of the day wandering around the resort taking pictures. Ate lunch & it was time to go. Tiffany arrived right on schedule at 1215 for our 1451 departure from MCO. Checked in and made our way through security without incident. Departed more or less on schedule & landed a bit early (1610ish). Claimed our baggage and called for the limo. Limo arrived shortly thereafter and we were in our driveway at about 1730ish. End of our Magical Journey to the Walt Disney World Resort.

This is what I call an extremely well thought-out, planned, and executed trip. I tried to plan ours like that, but being that it had been 10 years since my last visit to Disney, I really had no clue as to where to begin. I do believe we will be going back to Disney for our anniversary trip, and this time we will be there for 9 or 10 days. I am going to print out this trip report so that I can refer back to it whenever I start planning my next trip. Thanks alot for taking such copius notes of your family vacation! Take care!
 

RMJKS05

New Member
Original Poster
Re: Re: Trip Report - 8/16 to 8/23...

Originally posted by antoinebusby
...Thanks alot for taking such copius notes of your family vacation! Take care!
To be honest. The kids are the nerds of the herd. All 3 of them kept a daily journal of their Magical Moments. Usually the last thing they did before drifting off to sleep each night, was write in their journals.

When I set out to write up the trip report for the forum, I tried to do so 4 days after the fact & was pretty much drawing nothing but blanks. :hammer: I had to keep referring back to their journals to fill in the details. :brick:
 
Re: Re: Re: Trip Report - 8/16 to 8/23...

Originally posted by RMJKS05
To be honest. The kids are the nerds of the herd. All 3 of them kept a daily journal of their Magical Moments. Usually the last thing they did before drifting off to sleep each night, was write in their journals.

When I set out to write up the trip report for the forum, I tried to do so 4 days after the fact & was pretty much drawing nothing but blanks. :hammer: I had to keep referring back to their journals to fill in the details. :brick:

LOL! You reared a great bunch of kids then. :sohappy:
 

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