WDW December 2001
It took three years and a lot of saving and planning , but we finally made it back "home" to the world in December 2001. Now is that a great Christmas present or what ?
I had been planning this trip since my first trip to WDW three years earlier. It was hard to believe that this was only my second trip to the world in part because I have become a Disney addict and eat, sleep, and drink Disney on a regular basis . My dream is to one day work at the wedding pavilion in WDW as a wedding coordinator ( my other side job ). We have been talking about retiring to Florida for many years now , but the children say it has to be many years down the line .
Day 1
We left late evening and headed out for the 14 hour drive to Orlando. Hubby started to get tired around 1 am , so we stopped for the night at the Comfort Inn and Suites in North Carolina. The next morning we had a great breakfast in the lobby ( eggs , sausage, and make your own waffles ). The excitement was starting to build so we hit the rode pretty early. We hit Florida around 2 pm and made our usual stop at the welcome center for updated brochures and Florida orange juice. My children did not know at the time , but they thought that we were staying at Downtown Disney at the Hotel Royal Plaza , when in reality hubby and I planned to surprise them with a stay at the Contemporary Resort on-property in WDW.
The van was filled to capacity with all of the things any Disney family would ever need or want ( I swear one day I will travel light , yah! right !!! ). We had just hit I-4 when the van just died ! In the middle of rush hour traffic no less. I think my husband was the only one who didn't panic. Needless to say , it was not the way I pictured starting my vacation. Thankfully for us a tow truck came along right away ( after we experienced a death defying journey across the center lane with my hubby pushing and me steering ). Marc traveled with the van and we followed behind in a taxi van. The children were very upset and Nicki started crying . I finally had to break down and tell them the surprise. I don't think it hit them until later that night that we were staying on property at one of the most famous Disney Resorts !
We had originally made PS reservations for our favorite restaurant Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort. Unfortunately we missed our reservation and frankly none of us were in the mood to eat. Hubby who at one time was a mechanic thankfully knew what to do about the car and spent our first day at Disney fixing it.
We spent the evening unpacking the van , running to the Transportation and Ticket Center getting our annual passes and exploring the resort that would be home for the next 8 days. It was a long tough day , but I was "home" so nothing was going to spoil this vacation.
Day 2
Update : With all of the car trouble on our first day I was determined to make the most of this trip and not spend to much time worrying about the car and how we were going to get back home. Hubby said he had everything under control, and since he had been a mechanic I left it in his hands.
The one convenience of staying on property was the fact that we had transportation at our beck and call. Marcus stayed at the hotel to start work on the van,and the children and I hit the monorail for our ride to Epcot. The whole ride took about 15 minutes.
We entered the park at about 9:10. I had read about the security at the parks so the children and I had our backpacks and bags opened and ready for inspection. My son had only his wallet in his pocket so he waited for us on the other side. After a brief explanation on how to use the finger scan for our new annual passes, we were finally in.
Epcot is my family's favorite park, which to most people does not make a lot of since. But we all like to travel and shop! What better place for any of this than Epcot. On our first trip to WDW we were not able to see a lot of Epcot, so I knew we would try to make better use of our time here during Christmas.
We stopped in front of the "ball" to take pictures and briefly checked out the Leave a Legacy stones. I wish they were placed somewhere else, I miss the unobstructed view of Spaceship Earth when you first come through the gates.
We than headed to Test Tracks for our first ever fastpass, followed by our first look at the Wonders of Life pavilion ( no wait ), Universe of Energy ( no wait ), than back to Test Track. This was our first ride on Test tracks and I was not sure what to expect. In the words of my children, this ride was " awesome "! We laughed the whole time . My "baby" girl who is scared of everything loved it so much she asked to ride again. We came off the ride determined to come back again with hubby in tow.
By this time we were getting hungry and I wanted to check on Marcus to see what the verdict was on the van. We hopped the monorail and was back at the CR by 12:15. Marc was nowhere to be found when we got back, so I called him on the cell phone to get and update. He was in Kissimmee getting the parts he needed, but he felt confident he could fix the problem and would meet us around 4 or 5 o'clock. We ate lunch in our room, and decided that we would drop in at MK for the afternoon parade and maybe even hit Adventureland which we had completely missed on our first trip.
We grabbed a ride on the monorail ( love that monorail ) and got off at the express stop for MK. As soon as I hit the gates I felt as if I had come home for Christmas. The music, the smells, it was unbelievable. I knew than that any doubts I had about this trip were over, even with all the problems with the van, it was worth it just to see my children's faces. We checked out a couple of the stores, than hit our favorite spot to see the Christmas parade. The parade was wonderful, and I got a lot of great pictures. The songs really got us into the Christmas spirit ( as if I needed anymore incentive). We hoped to come back another day with Marcus and the video camera, but it never happened. We hit Adventureland after the parade and was able to ride Pirate's of the Caribbean. The lines were to long for Aladdin, and the Jungle Cruise. It wasn't a big deal because I knew we would be back in a few days.
We figured it was time to catch up with Marcus for dinner, so we headed back to the CR via the monorail. We ended up waiting a little while for him because he had finished working on the van and was out giving it a test drive. When he got back we hit Kissimmee for dinner.
As much as I like staying on property I also like the conveyance of having our own transportation for shopping at the outlet malls and hitting the less expensive restaurants off property. This is a must with a family of five. We had dinner at IHOP. The waitress that evening must have been having a hard day, she messed up my husbands order and than proceeded to spill our water glasses all over the table. She apologized over and over. She finally treated us to dinner on her. We left her a nice tip. (We related to having a bad day).
When we got back to the hotel I remembered that this would be Blair Underwood's (from LA Law) last day narrating the Candlelight Processional. My son decided to stay in for the rest of the evening. So off to my favorite transportation option (with hubby finally in tow) and back to Epcot for the evening. Marcus finally got to break in that annual pass.
This place is wonderful at night, although they could use a few more lighted pathways. I had no clue at the time how far it was to the American Pavilion. And something about the dark makes this park appear even bigger. We were not there in time to get a seat, but I was determined to see Blair Underwood in person even if it was from afar. I have always thought he was cute, and spent a great deal of time trying to explain to my teenage daughters what the big deal was about seeing some guy they had never heard of. They only knew about LA Law because it had started coming on as re-runs on our local cable channel. I asked them to compare it to meeting Colby Bryant or some other "star" they liked. They finally got it. My hubby had the video camera in tow, so I was able to see him up close after I got home from vacation.
After the CP , we tried to find a good spot for the fireworks. We must have moved three times. We still ended up with a bad spot, but the girls were staring to get tired and cranky and the crowds were stating to fill in everywhere. We were on a bridge for a while in front of Italy, but at the last minute moved just to the right of the area in part because these poles were in the way. We ended up standing behind a roped off area that had a sick person on a stretcher.
I had not seen Illuminations: Reflections of Earth before, so I was very excited. WDW has some of the best fireworks, so I knew I was in for a treat. The fireworks were everything I knew they would be and I fell in love with the music. I later bought the CD from last year's Epcot.
This would have been a perfect ending to a first day in the parks ( especially after all it took to get here ), but just as the fireworks were ending with a big bang , we literally had a big bang! Apparently some of the fireworks hit the ground in a crowd of people. I am not sure to this day if anyone got hurt. It happened so fast and people started to run towards the scene. My husband tried to see what had happened but could only see that someone was on the ground. A castmember made a call on her walkie talkie for help and we moved back in order to not be in the way. The girls were pretty shook up because the place where the fireworks hit was the spot that we had just moved from on that bridge area in front of Italy. They spent the rest of the week trying to avoid any contact with fireworks of any kind. ( including the fireworks at Fantasmic a few days later ). We headed back to the room, and after a while the girls settled down and we hit the sack. Tomorrow breakfast at Boma's ( me and the hubby ) than MGM for the day ( hopefully with hubby in tow ).
It took three years and a lot of saving and planning , but we finally made it back "home" to the world in December 2001. Now is that a great Christmas present or what ?
I had been planning this trip since my first trip to WDW three years earlier. It was hard to believe that this was only my second trip to the world in part because I have become a Disney addict and eat, sleep, and drink Disney on a regular basis . My dream is to one day work at the wedding pavilion in WDW as a wedding coordinator ( my other side job ). We have been talking about retiring to Florida for many years now , but the children say it has to be many years down the line .
Day 1
We left late evening and headed out for the 14 hour drive to Orlando. Hubby started to get tired around 1 am , so we stopped for the night at the Comfort Inn and Suites in North Carolina. The next morning we had a great breakfast in the lobby ( eggs , sausage, and make your own waffles ). The excitement was starting to build so we hit the rode pretty early. We hit Florida around 2 pm and made our usual stop at the welcome center for updated brochures and Florida orange juice. My children did not know at the time , but they thought that we were staying at Downtown Disney at the Hotel Royal Plaza , when in reality hubby and I planned to surprise them with a stay at the Contemporary Resort on-property in WDW.
The van was filled to capacity with all of the things any Disney family would ever need or want ( I swear one day I will travel light , yah! right !!! ). We had just hit I-4 when the van just died ! In the middle of rush hour traffic no less. I think my husband was the only one who didn't panic. Needless to say , it was not the way I pictured starting my vacation. Thankfully for us a tow truck came along right away ( after we experienced a death defying journey across the center lane with my hubby pushing and me steering ). Marc traveled with the van and we followed behind in a taxi van. The children were very upset and Nicki started crying . I finally had to break down and tell them the surprise. I don't think it hit them until later that night that we were staying on property at one of the most famous Disney Resorts !
We had originally made PS reservations for our favorite restaurant Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort. Unfortunately we missed our reservation and frankly none of us were in the mood to eat. Hubby who at one time was a mechanic thankfully knew what to do about the car and spent our first day at Disney fixing it.
We spent the evening unpacking the van , running to the Transportation and Ticket Center getting our annual passes and exploring the resort that would be home for the next 8 days. It was a long tough day , but I was "home" so nothing was going to spoil this vacation.
Day 2
Update : With all of the car trouble on our first day I was determined to make the most of this trip and not spend to much time worrying about the car and how we were going to get back home. Hubby said he had everything under control, and since he had been a mechanic I left it in his hands.
The one convenience of staying on property was the fact that we had transportation at our beck and call. Marcus stayed at the hotel to start work on the van,and the children and I hit the monorail for our ride to Epcot. The whole ride took about 15 minutes.
We entered the park at about 9:10. I had read about the security at the parks so the children and I had our backpacks and bags opened and ready for inspection. My son had only his wallet in his pocket so he waited for us on the other side. After a brief explanation on how to use the finger scan for our new annual passes, we were finally in.
Epcot is my family's favorite park, which to most people does not make a lot of since. But we all like to travel and shop! What better place for any of this than Epcot. On our first trip to WDW we were not able to see a lot of Epcot, so I knew we would try to make better use of our time here during Christmas.
We stopped in front of the "ball" to take pictures and briefly checked out the Leave a Legacy stones. I wish they were placed somewhere else, I miss the unobstructed view of Spaceship Earth when you first come through the gates.
We than headed to Test Tracks for our first ever fastpass, followed by our first look at the Wonders of Life pavilion ( no wait ), Universe of Energy ( no wait ), than back to Test Track. This was our first ride on Test tracks and I was not sure what to expect. In the words of my children, this ride was " awesome "! We laughed the whole time . My "baby" girl who is scared of everything loved it so much she asked to ride again. We came off the ride determined to come back again with hubby in tow.
By this time we were getting hungry and I wanted to check on Marcus to see what the verdict was on the van. We hopped the monorail and was back at the CR by 12:15. Marc was nowhere to be found when we got back, so I called him on the cell phone to get and update. He was in Kissimmee getting the parts he needed, but he felt confident he could fix the problem and would meet us around 4 or 5 o'clock. We ate lunch in our room, and decided that we would drop in at MK for the afternoon parade and maybe even hit Adventureland which we had completely missed on our first trip.
We grabbed a ride on the monorail ( love that monorail ) and got off at the express stop for MK. As soon as I hit the gates I felt as if I had come home for Christmas. The music, the smells, it was unbelievable. I knew than that any doubts I had about this trip were over, even with all the problems with the van, it was worth it just to see my children's faces. We checked out a couple of the stores, than hit our favorite spot to see the Christmas parade. The parade was wonderful, and I got a lot of great pictures. The songs really got us into the Christmas spirit ( as if I needed anymore incentive). We hoped to come back another day with Marcus and the video camera, but it never happened. We hit Adventureland after the parade and was able to ride Pirate's of the Caribbean. The lines were to long for Aladdin, and the Jungle Cruise. It wasn't a big deal because I knew we would be back in a few days.
We figured it was time to catch up with Marcus for dinner, so we headed back to the CR via the monorail. We ended up waiting a little while for him because he had finished working on the van and was out giving it a test drive. When he got back we hit Kissimmee for dinner.
As much as I like staying on property I also like the conveyance of having our own transportation for shopping at the outlet malls and hitting the less expensive restaurants off property. This is a must with a family of five. We had dinner at IHOP. The waitress that evening must have been having a hard day, she messed up my husbands order and than proceeded to spill our water glasses all over the table. She apologized over and over. She finally treated us to dinner on her. We left her a nice tip. (We related to having a bad day).
When we got back to the hotel I remembered that this would be Blair Underwood's (from LA Law) last day narrating the Candlelight Processional. My son decided to stay in for the rest of the evening. So off to my favorite transportation option (with hubby finally in tow) and back to Epcot for the evening. Marcus finally got to break in that annual pass.
This place is wonderful at night, although they could use a few more lighted pathways. I had no clue at the time how far it was to the American Pavilion. And something about the dark makes this park appear even bigger. We were not there in time to get a seat, but I was determined to see Blair Underwood in person even if it was from afar. I have always thought he was cute, and spent a great deal of time trying to explain to my teenage daughters what the big deal was about seeing some guy they had never heard of. They only knew about LA Law because it had started coming on as re-runs on our local cable channel. I asked them to compare it to meeting Colby Bryant or some other "star" they liked. They finally got it. My hubby had the video camera in tow, so I was able to see him up close after I got home from vacation.
After the CP , we tried to find a good spot for the fireworks. We must have moved three times. We still ended up with a bad spot, but the girls were staring to get tired and cranky and the crowds were stating to fill in everywhere. We were on a bridge for a while in front of Italy, but at the last minute moved just to the right of the area in part because these poles were in the way. We ended up standing behind a roped off area that had a sick person on a stretcher.
I had not seen Illuminations: Reflections of Earth before, so I was very excited. WDW has some of the best fireworks, so I knew I was in for a treat. The fireworks were everything I knew they would be and I fell in love with the music. I later bought the CD from last year's Epcot.
This would have been a perfect ending to a first day in the parks ( especially after all it took to get here ), but just as the fireworks were ending with a big bang , we literally had a big bang! Apparently some of the fireworks hit the ground in a crowd of people. I am not sure to this day if anyone got hurt. It happened so fast and people started to run towards the scene. My husband tried to see what had happened but could only see that someone was on the ground. A castmember made a call on her walkie talkie for help and we moved back in order to not be in the way. The girls were pretty shook up because the place where the fireworks hit was the spot that we had just moved from on that bridge area in front of Italy. They spent the rest of the week trying to avoid any contact with fireworks of any kind. ( including the fireworks at Fantasmic a few days later ). We headed back to the room, and after a while the girls settled down and we hit the sack. Tomorrow breakfast at Boma's ( me and the hubby ) than MGM for the day ( hopefully with hubby in tow ).
