Trip to the World with a First Timer: Sept. 8-12 Pre-Trip & Trip Report

so exactly two weeks from today i will be arriving in orlando and beginning my vacation in walt disney world! :sohappy:

this trip is more exciting than usual for me because i am going with my best friend from college and former roommate, maggie. we both graduated in 2008 from elon university (woo!). after graduation, i stayed in nc and maggie moved back to her home state of georgia. since graduating we have only seen each other once and that was actually just this past may when she returned to nc to see her brother graduate from elon.

maggie and ashley (that's me) from the glory days of college. ahh...it's only been two years since graduating and i already miss it. good times.

so back in march maggie had mentioned that some of her friends had just returned from a vacation in wdw and they loved it. she has never been and she knows how much i love it so she asked if i would want to go with her and show her the world! ummm...did she really have to ask the question?! :lol: so immediately i kicked it into planning mode and we decided to go in september for value season and low crowds.

first we had to decide where we wanted to stay. maggie and i are both pretty frugal (i hate that word. let's say financially responsible instead) so i thought that maybe the values would be a definite for us. i had also suggested maybe doing a moderate or staying at the wilderness lodge since it is on the lower end price wise out of the deluxes. i was very pleased when maggie said she wanted to do her first trip right and we would splurge and stay at the wilderness lodge! i have never stayed here before so i am very excited to see what it's like. i also suggested that doing the dining plan might be a good idea and maggie was on board! (i love planning for someone who is so open to suggestion!) i figured that there would either be a room discount or free dining coming out after we booked the trip and sure enough, free dining came out for disney visa card holders (that would be me ) and we got free dining. a financially responsible person's dream come true!

since this is maggie's first trip to the world, i decided to make her a "first timers guide to walt disney world" i put together a binder with information including the wdw planning dvd, free park maps, menus for the restaurants we would be eating at/considering eating at, disney trivia, park hours and a pair of minnie mouse ears! on her visit in may, we went over her binder and i showed her some shows i had on the dvr that were in wdw.

so now you know the planning process of how our trip came to be. now, on to the scheduled itinerary!

wednesday september 8th - arrival day
9:10am - i arrive at mco
9:20am - maggie arrives at mco (very nice planning!)
then we board the dme and head to the wl!
once we arrive we will have lunch at roaring fork, check out the room, hang out by the pool (weather permitting), check out the resort, etc.
3:00pm - head over to mk for our first park of the trip
TBD - dinner at a QS location TBD
9:00pm - watch wishes
head back to the resort after wishes

thursday september 9th - epcot and dhs
7:45am - head to epcot
11:30am - lunch at tutto italia for our first table service meal
1:00pm - head back to the wl for time by the pool, to relax, nap, etc.
4:00pm - head to dhs
5:50pm - dinner at sci fi dine in theater for the must see, amazing atmosphere this place has
8:30pm - see fantasmic!
head back to the wl after fantasmic!

friday september 10th - ak and epcot
7:30am - head to ak
TBD - grab breakfast at a QS TBD
1:10pm - head back to wl to get ready for dinner tonight
3:15pm - head to epcot
4:15pm - dinner at le cellier! (i have never been so i am interested to see if it lives up to the hype)
9:00pm - illuminations and then emh begin
12:00am - park closes, head back to the wl

saturday september 11th - dhs and mk
6:50am - head to dhs for morning emh
12:30pm - lunch at a QS TBD
1:30pm - head over to mk
3:00pm - watch the parade
7:00pm - head over to the contemporary for dinner
7:35pm - dinner at the wave
then show maggie the monorail resorts after dinner

sunday september 12th - dtd and departure day
8:30am - head to dtd
TBD - lunch at earl of sandwich
12:00pm - head back to wl then wait for dme to take us back to the airport
5:00pm - ashley departs from mco
5:30pm - maggie departs from mco

i am so excited for this trip and to experience seeing wdw with someone who has never been! i know i need to slow down from my normal pace and let maggie enjoy all the small things that make wdw so wonderful. its crazy, but i actually hope we have some wait times for attractions so she can see all the cool details that go into the queue.

i will be taking a ton of pictures while there and will try to post my trip report shortly after returning. thanks for reading!

 

[BlizzardPoke]

Great report so far, can't wait for the rest! Amazing photos, I love Wilderness Lodge but have never stayed there. It is for sure on the future to do list!!

 

[garyhoov]

on with the trip report...

Day 1: Arrival and Magic Kingdom

my flight was at 7:30am leaving from rdu which meant i had to be at the airport by 6:00am. i am always nervous the night before a flight because i am worried that i will oversleep. so i probably woke up about every hour and looked at the clock. finally it was time for me to wake up, so i said bye to my dog daisy and then headed to the airport. luckily, i live very close to the airport so i was out the door by 5:45 and sitting and waiting at the gate by 6:15am.

i love flying southwest because of the great flight attendants, low prices and the fact that they serve peanuts. well, of course i was on a flight with someone who had a peanut allergy so no peanuts. bummer. we were supposed to land at 9:10 but we actually landed at 8:55! woo hoo! i love landing early almost as much as i love honey roasted peanuts :lol:

maggie's flight didn't get in until 9:20, so i headed to disney's magical express and waited for maggie to arrive. maggie got there around 9:25 and we got in line for our bus to the wilderness lodge!

we were the first ones in line for the bus and i was really excited because i wanted to make sure we had a front row seat so maggie could see the walt disney world sign.

we boarded the bus at 9:40 and were off to the resort by 9:50. and not too soon after we saw the most glorious sight!

we made a quick stop at the poly and then it was off to the wl! we arrived at 10:34 and were immediately in awe of the beautiful resort!

we went to the online check in line and no one was there. we checked in and our room was ready! sweet! and we found out that we were on the first floor and right near the roaring fork! AMAZING! i was so excited that we didn't have to walk very far to and from the buses and the ferry. and not to mention we were close to the fountain drink station to refill our mugs! we headed straight to our room to check it out.

Cool! These photos are great, because I love that feeling of just arriving and you've captured that feeling with this series.:sohappy:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Great trip report so far, keep it coming. WL looks amazing, i would love to stay there. Your photos are brilliant, looking forward to seeing lots more!

thanks liask09! i will be posting more as soon as i get home from work in about 30 minutes! (had to sneak in some responses while at work. i couldn't resist! :lol the wl was absolutely AMAZING! i had never even thought about staying there until i saw all the beautiful pictures of the resort on this forum. i will 100% stay there in the future. thanks for the compliments on the pictures! and there are many many more to come!

Great report so far. Looking forward to the rest!

thanks minnie2000! i can't wait to post the rest!

Can't wait to read more! I am going with a first-timer in January, so I'd love to see what Maggie liked the most, so I can make sure I hit those things with my friend. Great TR so far!

going with a first timer is very different from a trip with experienced visitors. it was really fun though to see her reaction to all the shows and attractions. just prepare to answer about a million questions! :lol: by the end i was getting a little annoyed but then i would have to remind myself that she had never been before. thanks for reading!

Great TR! MORE MORE! :sohappy:

thanks wdwmazprty! more coming soon!

Yay... you're back! And by the looks of it you're going to have your whole trip report completed before I finish mine! :lol: All your pictures of the Wilderness Lodge have me really wanting to plan another trip there. I love Silver Creek Springs and it looks like you had a great room. Looking forward to more! :sohappy:

yay!! i just might have my trip report done before yours but you seemed to be doing good before petunia crashed. your pictures from your wl/akl trip made me want to go to both of those resorts!! and thank you for that because the wl is now my favorite! and there is a slight possibility i will be staying at the akl in dec instead of the yc. so we will see. more is on the way! i just need to make it through these last 10 minutes at work and then the report can continue!

Great TR and I love the WL pics since it is up there in my choices for resorts with a First Timer in May. Keep it coming!!! :sohappy:

thanks rach&eric! it was a wonderful resort! i highly recommend it. its in a great location and its on the lower end price wise for the deluxes and it in no way feels like you are being shortchanged on the amenities. i think it was really worth the price.

Don't you just love planning and taking a newbie! I got to do that in 2007! It's so exciting! I love that headboard in your room, it's so beautiful. Your room location looked nice too. I'm never too sure about the ground floor, but it really makes it seem like you're in the wilderness.

i do love planning wdw trips! its almost as fun as actually going! taking a newbie was fun but kind of stressful because i was worried she wouldn't have a good time. but of course, i worried for nothing because she is already thinking about taking her whole family who have also never been before! so i am happy that i was able to plan such a great trip for her! our room was great! i was a little worried about the ground floor but we didn't have a noise problem at all. once during the middle of the day when they had the dj out by the pool it was kind of loud, but it wasn't too bad.

Great report so far, can't wait for the rest! Amazing photos, I love Wilderness Lodge but have never stayed there. It is for sure on the future to do list!!

thanks blizzardpoke! i loved the wl and i had never even considered staying there. it is a must resort for me now!

Cool! These photos are great, because I love that feeling of just arriving and you've captured that feeling with this series.:sohappy:

thanks garyhoov! i love looking back at the pictures from a trip and feeling like you are reliving the trip! it is so exciting when you first arrive. i can never stop smiling!

 

[margot2791]

Great trip report so far! Makes me really want to stay at Wilderness Lodge now!

 

[mouselvrmom]

I love all the Wilderness lodge pics that you took! I realy feel like I'm there!

And your MK pics are great too! I can't wait for more!

Maybe you'll finish your report before mine... :lookaroun:lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Great trip report so far! Makes me really want to stay at Wilderness Lodge now!

thanks margot2791! its a great resort!

I love all the Wilderness lodge pics that you took! I realy feel like I'm there!

And your MK pics are great too! I can't wait for more!

Maybe you'll finish your report before mine... :lookaroun:lol:

thanks jenn! i am really happy with the way my pictures came out. i was worried i wouldn't be able to capture the beauty of the resort but i am glad to see that i did! don't feel too bad about not finishing your trip report! i don't have 4 kids to take care of. i just have a dog and a boyfriend :lol: so its a little easier for me to finish this thing!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after our cruise through the jungles of the world, we were off on a magic carpet ride.

after the carpets, it was on to swiss family treehouse to complete our tour of adventureland.

we continued our adventure to frontierland. we checked to see what the wait times looked like for splash and btmrr. btmrr had about a 20 minute wait and splash was 5 minutes. so we grabbed a fastpass for btmrr and jumped on splash mountain.

while in line we were originally placed in the line for the back of the boat but then the cast member asked if we wanted to be up front. the people in the front of the line didn't want to be there so i said why not. i knew that since it was about 90 degrees out that they would have the water cannons shooting water when you come around after the first drop. so we got out one of the ponchos to hold over us as the water shot over us. well we held up the poncho, and we still got soaked! and i mean, water down my entire back and in my pants. how lovely. :lol: thank god we had the poncho to protect us slightly from the water.

so after getting drenched on splash, we went over to btmrr to use our fp and maybe try to dry off a little. it wasn't time yet for our fp, and the standby line was still only 20 minutes so we jumped in the standby line.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after our ride on the wildest ride in the wilderness, we got right in the fp line and rode again.

after our second go on btmrr, we were slightly drier and we continued our journey through frontierland. i had sent maggie menus for all of the quick service places in the mk and she decided that we should eat at pecos bill. mmmm....sounds good to me! :slurp: we would stop by there later in the evening.

after glancing at the delicious menu we were going to have later that night, we decided to catch the next showing of the country bear jamboree

after cbj, we went to liberty square and checked out the ye old christmas shoppe and then moved on to the haunted mansion.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

we then made our way to fantasyland. and i gotta say, i was really disappointed at all the construction. i know its for the betterment of the park, but it was maggie's first visit and the construction really took away from the magic of fantasyland. but oh well. we still enjoyed ourselves!

we made the rounds in fantasyland and rode dumbo, the carousel, snow white and then saw philharmagic.

you can see the sky was starting to get very ominous looking.

and i just have to mention this. while waiting in line for snow white, this little girl behind me who was probably 3 years old, kept touching my butt. i just kept thinking, "hello, mother back there. do you think you could tell your child to stop touching my butt" :lookaroun :lol: it drives me crazy when parents don't pay attention to their children. this mother was oblivious. i'm not a mom so i don't know what its like, but i would hope that i wouldn't let my child touch random strangers. :lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after philharmagic, we were getting pretty hungry so we headed back to frontierland and grabbed some food at pecos bill.

i got the cheeseburger, fries and the carrot cake. mmmm...everything was sooooo good! :slurp: i was so happy that the carrot cake was really good!

maggie got the bbq pork sandwich, apple slices and strawberry yogurt. apple slices and strawberry yogurt?! nothing wrong with those choices but did maggie have to be so healthy while i pigged out on a burger, fries and carrot cake. :lol:

we grabbed a seat outside under awning since we were still wet from splash mountain and didn't want to sit inside in the air conditioning. while we were eating it started to rain. so we took our time eating trying to wait out the rain. the rain slowed down and was reduced to a drizzle so we made our way to tomorrowland.

we headed straight for space mountain and it was down!!! nooooo! we decided to go on buzz while we hoped that space would be back up and running. i am not a huge fan of this ride because i can never figure out where my laser is pointed! but this time, i actually did pretty well! maggie...not so much. i was on the left, maggie on the right.

maggie kept complaining that she couldn't see where her laser was and i had to assure her that i normally was terrible but that i managed to find my laser this time.

when we came out of buzz the rain had continued but good news! space mountain was back open! woo hoo. so we threw on our ponchos and got in the line of people waiting to get on space. the line was out the door but only because it had just opened back up. so we probably only waited about 10 minutes. not too bad for such a great ride!

maggie loved space mountain! it was one of her most favorite rides of the trip! after space, we traveled around tomorrowland on the transit authority. i just love this ride! its so relaxing and i love to see tomorrowland at night.

we ventured over to mickey's star traders to check out the shop a little bit. i had been wanting the wdw shirt with the old logo and mickey on it. and i found it!! yay! i was so happy they had it since the website was sold out of the color i wanted.

after our quick shopping spree, we decided to grab a spot for wishes! i was so excited for maggie to see these fireworks! i just feel like wishes is the ultimate wdw experience. so we got a spot right on main street a little behind the hub. we sat on the curb for a little while, and then it started to drizzle. so we put on our ponchos again and then it was getting crowded so we stood in the middle of main street with a fabulous view of the castle!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i am experiencing some technical difficulties. ugh!!! photobucket and my computer are currently going crazy. hopefully i can finishing posting day one sometime tonight.

UPDATE: photobucket is still acting crazy but i am determined to get this first day done!

after wishes, we decided to hang out a little while and let the crowds die down at the ferry back to the wl. so we took some pictures around the castle and then walked in and out of the shops on main street.

i absolutely LOVE these little guys! how cute? i might just have to buy one on my next trip! the dumbo is my favorite.

while shopping we both were really thirsty and planned on getting refills in our mugs at the roaring fork. we didn't know what time it closed and it would be horrible if we got back and it was closed when were both in desperate need of a diet coke. well, me being the amazing planner that i am, i wrote down the number for the wl and we called to check to see what time they were open until! and they are open until midnight! score! once we were done checking out the shops, we stopped by the statue of roy and minnie and took some pictures.

after that we heard the goodnight kiss. in all the years that i have visited the parks, i had never heard this before! i never make it in the parks that late since when i go, its normally open way later than 9pm. but this time since the park closed at 9, i was easily able to stay in the park until 10.

so after the goodnight kiss we made our way through the train station and went to catch the ferry. once we got to the dock, we only had to wait about 2 minutes a boat showed up. sweet! once we got back to the resort, we grabbed a quick refill, showered and got in bed. it had been a long first day at disney and our days were only going to get longer!

it was a wonderful first day!! much more report to come!

 

[tiaragirl]

Such a great TR! Thanks for all the pictures, and bringing the magic home for us!

 

[mouselvrmom]

Yay! I'm loving all your pictures!

 

[HollyBelle]

Wow! You two were able to accomplish so much on your first day, what with such manageable wait times and your plan of attack.

Oh yeah, and I totally agree with you about kids in lines, or rather, the parents of those kids. I get so annoyed when I'm standing in a line and the person behind me (adult or child) stands practically on top of me and steps on my heels as we move forward. I mean, seriously, it's not like someone is going to cut in front of them... leave me some breathing room. :lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Such a great TR! Thanks for all the pictures, and bringing the magic home for us!

Yay! I'm loving all your pictures!

thanks! there are way more pictures coming in a just a minute!

Wow! You two were able to accomplish so much on your first day, what with such manageable wait times and your plan of attack.

Oh yeah, and I totally agree with you about kids in lines, or rather, the parents of those kids. I get so annoyed when I'm standing in a line and the person behind me (adult or child) stands practically on top of me and steps on my heels as we move forward. I mean, seriously, it's not like someone is going to cut in front of them... leave me some breathing room. :lol:

i was so happy with how much we got done at the mk that first day. everything was walk on! even major attractions like splash, btmrr, and space. on all of those the wait time consisted of walking from the entrance to the loading area! it was crazy!

and THANK YOU! sometimes i think i am crazy when i want some breathing room. i just keep thinking "personal space people!" :lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

Day 2: EPCOT and Hollywood Studios

this was our first full day in wdw and it was going to be a long day. we woke up around 7:15am and after making a quick stop at roaring fork for a croissant for myself, a bagel for maggie and refilling our mugs, we were at the bus stop at 7:50 and waited for our bus.

and we continued to wait. we saw 2 buses for the magic kingdom and 2 hollywood studios buses, but there were no epcot buses. finally our bus showed up after about 15 minutes of waiting. not too bad of a wait time but it just stinks when you see every other bus come and go and the one you are waiting on is nowhere to be found.

after stopping at fort wilderness, we made our arrival at epcot at 8:25. there were already a decent amount of people in lines at the turnstiles but we managed to find one that didn’t have too many people in line. they let us in the gates a little before 9:00 and we made our way into the park.

and we stopped to say hello to daisy on our way in!

we saw the opening ceremony and i think maggie was really excited to see the characters. we didn’t see too many characters while in the mk so she was happy to see the whole gang of major characters out. now normally i would head straight for test track since i know that everyone else heads to soarin, but since maggie had never been, i knew that we should hit up soarin first or the wait would be too long. so we followed the stampede over to soarin and rode once, and then grabbed a fastpass.

after soarin, we made our way over to test track where i knew the wait would be non-existent.

and there was really no one there. i even got to take the pictures i have always wanted to take but never have been able to because there have always been too many people.

:lol: i think these posters are great and i have always wanted to replicate their pose for a picture!

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

we got in line and almost had a car completely to ourselves but then they threw in one lone guy. bummer. i was hoping for a picture of just me and maggie in the car. but oh well. we rode once and then when we got back they asked if we wanted to ride again. so we unbuckled and then re-buckled our seatbelts and we were off! i love this ride and i love the fact that no one is ever over there in the morning because of soarin.

after test track, we went on spaceship earth. another fabulous ride!

and i always try to take pictures in the ride, but there is really no point, because i never get any good pictures. i got a semi-good picture but it’s really dark. i should really give up but i always think maybe this time i will get a good one.

i did get a good picture of my future!

i let maggie pick all the options for our future and of course it was all about health and exercise. oh maggie.

after sse, we went to go see nemo and friends at the seas.

after we found nemo, maggie ran into bruce. :lol: oh, i crack myself up

we also stopped in to see turtle talk with crush. i love this attraction! it never gets old! it is amazing how they do all of this interactive stuff. and it was so funny because a little boy told crush that his favorite part was when the whale comes and crush asked “dude, are you psychic?” :lol: its just so cute how crush interacts with the kids and with their parents.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after taking some pictures outside the seas, we went back to the land to go on living with the land and to use our soarin fast passes.

once we were done with lwtl, we realized we wouldn’t have time to go on soarin, since we had an 11:30 reservation over in italy. but oh well, now i would just have to use the fp in my scrapbook! so i told maggie we better go because we had a long walk to italy :ROFLOL:

we made the long, hot journey over to italy and happily checked in at the wonderfully air conditioned tutto italia.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

we were seated almost immediately since they had just opened for the day. and we actually sat in the same spot that my boyfriend, wes, and i sat in last year. here is the view from our table.

within about 5 minutes of ordering, our food was at our table. :slurp: i love it when you’re food comes out right away! especially when i am really hungry!

i got the spaghetti and meatballs which was delicious, as always

and maggie got the insalata della casa con pollo (salad with chicken)

i knew some fellow forum members would be at wdw during my trip but i figured i probably wouldn’t run into anyone since wdw is a pretty big place. well guess who i ran into?! blackthidot aka john. as maggie and i were eating, i saw john and colleen walking up to the restaurant and then they were seated one table over from us. crazy! so i said hello and we talked briefly. its so weird when you meet people you have only known through the internet. and especially since on here we share our trip reports and we see pictures of each other so you feel like you already know the person. anyway, it was nice to finally meet you in person john! :wave:

after our entrée it was time for dessert! for dessert, i got the copetta sotto bosco (berries, gelato, and chocolate sauce) which looked a lot better than it tasted. the gelato was flavored with some liquor so it had a very strong after taste.

maggie got the panna cotta al cioccolato which was very rich but really good. i may have to get that the next time i am there.

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

after our wonderful lunch, we walked around world showcase back towards the imagination building. i wanted to see captain eo since i don’t remember seeing it as a kid and i figured we could walk on figment. so we made our way from italy all the way through canada, taking a couple pictures along the way.

once we got to the imagination building we walked right on figment and were the only people in our little car thing. then after we saw the first segment of the ride, our car didn’t move. :lookaroun i was like “uh…did they forget that people are in here” then about 30 seconds (which felt like forever) we were moving through the ride.

after figment, we went to see captain eo. and i gotta tell you, i was really excited to see this! i slightly remember hearing about captain eo when i was younger but i don’t think i ever saw it. we asked how long the show was and we had enough time to catch it before we needed to head back to the resort.

when the preshow video came on and announced that captain eo was made in ’86, i just laughed because the show is as old as i am. :lol: and you gotta love the awesomeness of the 80s in that preshow video! so we went in to see the show and….i LOVED it! :ROFLOL: captain eo is the most HILARIOUS thing i think i have seen in a long time. i just kept laughing during the whole thing! i know its not supposed to be a comedy but every time mj did one of his dance moves and changed those trash people into brightly colored background dancers, i almost lost it. HILARIOUS! and that song! i was singing it for the rest of the afternoon and just laughing! :lol: i really hope they keep it around for awhile because i can’t wait to see it again!

it was then time for us to head back to the resort. so we made our way to the front of the park and got a quick picture in front of spaceship earth before we went to the bus stop.

we made it to the bus stop around 1:45 and again we had to wait 15 minutes for a bus. getting a bus to and from epcot was the only time we ever had to wait more than 5 minutes for a bus. it was crazy how the epcot bus was the only bus we had problems with. so we boarded the bus at 2 and we back to the wilderness lodge by 2:10!