Thanks to annual passes at WDW , I am heading "home" again after less than 8 months .
Update : Cast of Characters : Marc ( AKA Disney Dad )
Cyndi ( AKA Disney Queen )
Nicki ( AKA Disney Princess )
Quisha ( AKA Sleeping Beauty )
This would be our first trip ever as a family without my oldest . So after a few last minute instructions to TJ not to burn the house down , we were on our way by 2:30 in the afternoon . Another first for us was the fact that I had even been able to leave on this trip with less luggage than I have ever taken on a car trip before. The girls settled in with their cd players and Marc had his snacks to keep him company . My plan was to get some rest , so that I could be alert while Marc drove late that night. I'm not sure I ever got much sleep because of the excitement. We made frequent bathroom breaks and had dinner at the Burger King in Georgia. We made pretty good time in the new car , and were hitting the Florida line at about 1 am . We could not resist stopping at the welcome center even though the center was closed , the bathrooms were available. I don't know what was wrong with the soap in the restroom , but it was brown! And our hands had a awful smell when we got back in the car . Thank goodness for hand sanitizer ! We considered driving the additional 2 hours , but instead decided to spend the night in St. Augustine. We would be meeting friends the next morning , so we wanted to be refreshed. Marc found a great deal at a Comfort Suite , and after grabbing our overnight bags and making the trek to the room we hit the sack at about 2 am.
We had continental breakfast that morning at the hotel , and was back on the road by 8:30 am . We arrived at Orlando at about 10:30 am . We followed the signs to the All Star Resorts , and made it through the gate in no time. Marc parked the car and headed for the check in line . Even though there was plenty of activity going on around us , we had only a short wait , and were given our "keys" within a matter of minutes . We had been assigned the Jazz Inn , and we were on the first floor. We went back to the car and proceeded to the parking area closest to our building. After unloading and unpacking the car , we called our friends for directions to their timeshare. They were actually only a few minutes away fro us , so we made it to their rooms in no time. The young couple Todd and Lai are friends from our church . When we found out that we would be in Orlando at the same time , we made plans to spend one day together at one of the Disney Parks . With our annual passes it was no problem for us.
We spent a little time talking and catching up , and even invited them to join us for dinner at Boma's later that evening. We decided to go to Magic Kingdom and finally headed out about 12 noon. Todd and Lai had spent a few days at Seaworld , and Todd had not been to Disney since he was a small child. Lai is expecting their first child , so we knew that most of the kiddy rides would be safe for her. We were through the gates and had picked up our friends tickets and on the monorail by 12:20. After a brief problem with Marc and a glass jar full of peanuts at the security desk ( the guards took his jar because of the glass , but put his peanuts in a Disney bag ).
After we got situated , we headed to Frontierland to ride the Jungle Cruise , but it was hot and the line was way to long. ( I forgot about FP ) . We proceeded to Pirates of the Caribbean , no wait and than to Haunted Mansion. We ended up getting a FP , and than headed for Fantasyland. We rode I'ts A Small World and Snow White . By the time we got back around to the Haunted Mansion , it was still to soon to activate our FP. So we hit the shops. After HM , we headed towards the castle and caught a glimpse of the parade. While everyone was watching the parade we headed for Buzz Lightyear to get a FP , and than rode the Tommorrowland Transit Authority and Carousel of Progress. Back to Buzz Lightyear for some great action and
than some popcorn and water. Boy , was the heat starting to get to us than . We had pretty much decided to leave the park , when Todd realized that he had lost his cell phone. We remembered that while we were in CP , that Todd had sat in a broken chair. We all moved so that he could get another seat. There was a possibility that he had lost the phone when he got stuck trying to get up . We asked one of the CM's for help , and sure enough ( after a wait for the ride to revolve , and us calling him from our cell phone ) , the CM found it. The CM had even said he knew which seat was broken .
By then we were all hot and tired and decided to regroup . We parted at the All Star Resort exit and made plans to meet up again at 6:30 , for our reservations at 7:00 at Boma's . I also wanted to show Todd and Lai around the resort. Once we got back to the room , Nicki called dining to add our friends to the reservation ( I made the reservations months ago , before we knew they would be in Florida at the same time ). Dining reservations told us , that we would have to wait until 9 pm to eat . I knew that Lai in her condition would not be able to wait that long , so I cancelled the reservations . We tried Ohana's on the chance that they might have a early opening , but no such luck. We headed for our friends timeshare , and than followed them to a restaurant that they had eaten at earlier in the week. We had a great meal , and great conversation . The girls and I saved $60. that we could now spend on shopping. We said good-bye to our friends who were leaving the next day for the Bahamas and headed back to the All Star Resort . I think we were in bed by 11 pm.
Over the next eight days we treked back in forth between the four parks. As much as I love WDW, I decided after this trip that we would be planning most of our trips for off season ( mostly the fall, early spring, or winter months ). Animal Kingdom became to hot for us to stay and tour in August. We never got on the Kalli River Rapids. For one the lines were way to long ( and even with a fast pass in hand, it was just to hot ). Even the poor tigers looked like they would rather be in Siberia .
We went into the Ice Cool Station each time we entered Epcot. And Epcot once again became the preferred park for this family. We even used the friendship boats via the international gateway exit to get back and forth to the boardwalk ( a first for us ) and to the MGM park. We checked out the boardwalk and took pictures behind the cut-outs. Did a little shopping and even looked at all of the great work of the famous artist who does the whale and ocean picture's. One of his walls is actually on display near where we live.
One highlight of our trip was the Princess Storybook Breakfast at Arkesuas ( please see my dining page for a review ).
On the departure day we had reservations for Chef Mickey's. It was Marc's first character breakfast experience. And I think the cost was a turn off factor for him for a long time. This trip he decided to give it a chance. He had a blast! And even put his camera down long enough to pose in pictures with Minnie and Mickey. Chip and Dale had a ball with the girls. My fav. video moment is Nicki dancing with Chip, and Dale hugging Quisha and taking her temperature ( she ended up getting sick a few days before we left WDW ). After breakfast we checked out of the All Star Resorts, and after some last minute shopping at the Beltz outlet we headed for home.
