Disney Trip Report Jan. 2003
Drove down!
Lisa: 32 ( almost 33)
Alan: 33 ( almost 34)
Olivia: 12
Owen: 3 and a half.
This trip was interesting.
We did have a good time. I have yet to go and not have a good time. However, this is the 1st time we had all driven down since 1994! And it is the 1st time we have driven far with Owen. This is also the trip that almost wasn’t going to happen many many times.
We had thought of going at our favorite time of year which is Nov./thanksgiving but Grandpa Edwards was really sick and I didn’t want to be gone. Not just in case something happened to him but also because I just knew it was going to be his last holiday. Truly I thought he would make it till Christmas but turns out I was both wrong and right. It was his last holiday as he passed away on Dec. 7th. This was the hardest thing I have ever been through and I am still not over it even though it has been almost 2 years. I will also never ever forget him taking my hand that day at Thanksgiving and patting it and saying “ we’re had a lot of good ones together, kid” It was as if he knew it was his last holiday too. (I of course ran to the bathroom and cried! ) There are so many things that I wish I had done differently that last year, months, days, and especially last hours. There is nothing I can do about it now but I feel I must add all of this in to get the whole “feel” for this trip.
As if this weren’t enough, Grandma Agney also passed away in Jan. just a couple days before we left. It was a “should we go or shouldn’t we” for a couple of weeks before we left. Then we decided to go and on the night before we left we are at the funeral home for grandma’s visitation and Mustang our dog passed away. Alan and Olivia were home and hadn’t left yet for the funeral home. They took him out to potty and he just came in and had a seizure on the kitchen floor and his little heart gave out. They came and got me and we came home to say goodbye to him. This is also right up there with the hardest thing I ever had to do. With all the things going on that week he had been neglected. I was going to the nursing home a few times, packing and getting the house ready for the trip etc. and just can’t really remember spending much time with him that week. Oh, the guilt! Mustang was just over 13 years old and had a heart condition and there really aren’t words to try and sum up what he meant to us and especially to me. So I won’t even try. He was just the best little dog.
I am adding all of this because it just wasn’t a typical trip at all! Once again we thought should we go? All the bags were packed and we decided to go. Mustang would be buried the next day by mom and dad while we were on the road driving down to Florida. Oh, the guilt! But I wouldn’t have gotten through being there in person so it was probably a good thing we left.
I will also add that I was in a state of depression that had started when grandpa passed away and didn’t leave for months to come. There was nonstop crying at night and very little sleeping at night too. It is truly shocking that I have a trip report of this trip because I didn’t think I had written one at all. I was surprised when I found it. I have told Alan many times that this trip didn’t count because it is all a blur. I don’t remember much of it like I do so many other trips. Except the cold part!! (and maybe the long drive) This one is mostly just foggy. As I read through it I see that we did have fun so I am glad that I actually wrote some of it down since I was in such a daze!
Now for the fun part………………
Sat. Jan. 18th 2003
Up at 6:00am (did I say fun part??)
Left home at 7:15am and it is 11 degrees in Shelbyville! We are at the Tennesse state line at 11:20am! Owen was wide awake till 10am and then slept for 1 hour. Lib did a LITTLE homework and fell asleep too. Owen asked twice if we were in California yet?
Stopped in Clarksville at 11:25 till 11:50 everyone pee’d and filled up the gas tank. ($1.39 a gal!! $22.00) Alan hooked up the laptop so the kids are now watching Peter Pan.
Entering Nashville at 12:15 there are a lot of cars off the side of the interstate between Clarksville and Nashville in the snow. The roads are completely clear now but days before there was a bad storm. We are taking the long way to Orlando to avoid the mountains because of snow and ice. (and mom!) Alabama state line at 1:30. Kid’s movie is over lib is doing homework and Owen is fighting sleep!
Stopped at 2:10 in Cullman Al. other side of Decatur Al. and ate at Arby’s for $16.00 also wasted 20 minutes messing with the laptop because it is now not working AT ALL!! Alan can’t fix it either! Back on road at 3:00!!
Stopped again in Montgomery at a K-mart about 5pm for Owen to pee and so Alan could look at hot wheels. Back in car at 5:25. Outside of Troy we got gas $24.00 ($1.41 a gal) COULD have done this in Montgomery but…… well……… we won’t go there! Lets just say that we haven’t had a driving trip in a long time and didn’t think of it!! Jeez!
Dothan Al. at 7:05pm. Fairfield Inn! Thank God!! Got our room and alan made up for the forgetting to get gas thing by getting us a king bed and sofa sleeper! Now here is where it gets stupid! (besides the gas thing!) We took stuff to the room and then GOT BACK IN THE CAR!! And went down the road to find the barnhills buffet. This took 20 minutes to find! We had just passed it. How could we not be able to find it?! Ate at 7:45 pm! And you know it was good and hot and fresh at that time of the evening right! (yuck!) $26.00 for dinner. Back to room and all asleep at 10pm!
I got up at 6:25 and showered. (are we having fun YET?) Then alarm went off at 6:45. Yep, that is right I was up BEFORE the alarm! Down for free breakfast at 7:30 and on the road at 8am. (Alan is giving me crap for not flying! And I am telling him it could be worse I could be my mother and get us all up at 2 or 3am! )
8:25am florida state line. WooHoo! This is when you wish you were just going to Pensacola! Tallahassee at 9:35. Int. 75 at 11:10am. WooHoo gotta love the interstate!
We stopped at rest area right at the interstate for a quick potty break and let Owen run and chase bubbles for a few minutes. Then we stopped for gas again. ($22.00, $1.64 a gal., which by the way I was not happy with at all!) We are now hoping Owen who has been awake ALL morning will SLEEP at least for a few minutes!
Gainsville at 12:00. Orlando at 1:20!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! Holiday inn Family Suites (HIFS) at 1:35!!
We are using the Buy one nite get the 2nd nite free coupon! Love that coupon. It was 99.99 a night for the night we paid for though so it works out to $50 a night. But with the free hot breakfast that helps and it is 2 bedrooms too. We used one of these coupons years ago I think it was 1996? And stayed at a not as nice and new Holiday inn for $59 a night and got the 2nd nite free! Now that was a deal. Of course not in the best of Orlando/Disney area’s and no free breakfast but we were fairly new to this and didn’t know any different!
We checked in and unloaded then while I unpacked everything Alan went to Walmart to buy the hopper passes that we needed. The kids loved the room. We had a small living room with sofa and chair. There was a mini-kitchen area. Just a table and chairs, small fridge, microwave, sink and counter top area. There were some over head cabinets to store things in. There was also one good sized bathroom and a bedroom for us with a king bed, closet, TV, and make up table with lights. The kids had a room with bunk beds, a kids sized table and chairs, and their own TV. They played in their room while I worked. We had 2 phone calls about our credit card I guess the problem was that we checked in to the hotel and then went to buy passes and the credit card hadn’t seen that much action in a long time and they thought it was stolen! While I am glad they were looking out for us in case of a stolen card it did make for a pain in the butt proving that it really was US! (Oddly one of the questions they asked me on the phone was the name of my family pet! Well I had to tell them Mustang and then I got all upset about that! When Alan got back I had to tell him about that!)
Alan was back and we were all done unpacking and decided to go down to the lobby and eat dinner/lunch. Well all they had was fast food and we wanted to eat at the buffet. It didn’t open till 5pm so we had to wait and hour. We went to the game room and walked all around the hotel exploring. They claimed to have free mini-golf but it was pretty sad. Back to lobby for dinner. $37.00 including the 15% tip that they added to the bill automatically! Glad we noticed that before we left another tip! Meal was not cheap but it was the only food we had paid for all day long and at least it was a buffet. Plus we paid $26.00 last night at that barnhills and it was really bad! At least this was fresh and hot.
Got in the car and drove over to the outlet store that is close by. The 1st one was closed since it was a Sunday evening. But the 2nd one was open. I got a watch and a snowglobe. Lib got a Tinkerbell t-shirt and Owen got a light up buzz toy. Back to the hotel and down to play bingo at 8pm. We ate the free popcorn and played. Owen got bored and Alan took him to the room at about 8:40. Lib and I stayed for the karaoke till 10pm! She liked watching it but wouldn’t get up and do it. It was very fun to watch the others though. Back to the room, into PJ’s and bed at about 11pm.
Worst: The credit card thing and the guy asking my about my pet.
Favorite: That we made it in one piece. That we liked the hotel and the room.
Up at 7:00am! (are we having fun YET?) Down to free breakfast at 8:15. They have a free hot breakfast and we got our “monies” worth of that! They had scrambled eggs, potatoes and each day they would rotate between bacon, ham, and sausage for meats. Also between French toast or pancakes. Then they would have cereal, toast, bagels and all of that too.
We got to MGM at 9:15am. Bad part about not staying onsite was having to pay $7.00 parking. I prefer free parking!! ($7.00 X 4 parking days = $28.00!) Or riding the busses but the busses from here aren’t an option as they don’t run very often and you can’t come and go when you want like on Disney property.
They went to Rock-n-Roller coaster and Tower of Terror 1st and got fast passes. Owen and I waited for them and he had himself a meltdown cause he wanted to RIDE something NOW! They showed back up and we went to find Buzz to get a picture. Then we got a picture made of all 4 of us. Not with buzz but where they put in different backgrounds. We picked the one that was the “4 parks one world thing” because I have a picture frame to match it and I also was wearing my t-shirt that matched it! Turns out that the t-shirt isn’t even noticeable in the pic because of how we are standing but oh well. ($12.95 for pic)
Kids went to play in the honey I shrunk the audience playground for a few minutes. Owen was afraid of it because it is so huge! Alan got a couple of work phone calls!! This really bugs the crap out of me! ONE WEEK OFF PEOPLE just one week! We had to stand around while he fixed some life threatening emergency at work that apparently only he can do!! (I could understand this if the man were a brain surgeon but give me a break!!)
From here we went over to One Man’s Dream. I really love this, the story of Walt’s life and how he came up the idea of making the parks and all that went into it. All the props, drawings, and his personal stuff to look at. It is just so sad that he died at such a young age and didn’t get to see ALL of it. Yes, I cried during the movie portion of it. Of course that is not unusual lately!
It is now time for them to use the fast passes from this morning. Owen and I went to see the bear in the big blue house show. He wasn’t all that impressed. It would help if he actually watched the bear cartoons! This kids watches plenty of cartoons and yet not this!
Owen and I met them on the main road and got my watch figured out. I was having trouble with it. Then it was noon so we decided to leave for awhile. Back to HIFS, we ate lunch because kids eat free in the food court with a paying adult! And then swam till 2:15. Back to MGM at 3:00 and sat down for the parade. Found a good spot that nobody else had wanted. Wow we are so lucky! But wait….. the sun is blinding us so bad we can’t see a thing! Perhaps this could be why no one else was sitting here?
As soon as the parade went past Al and lib ran down for more fast passes. And we all walked over to who wants to be a millionaire! After we got seated we gave owen a small sucker to keep him quiet but a mean CM came over and yelled at us that he couldn’t have it in there! (very undisney) Alan ended up taking Owen out before it was over he hated sitting still and listening to the questions. Ahhhh, do we feel bad that poor Alan had to take him out and didn’t get to see the rest of the show? NO, we do not, after all I am with Owen while he and lib ride the coasters!
After this they of course left me and owen again! I went and bought owen and I a warm pretzel and cheese to share but while I ordered and paid and then turned around to hand it to him he was……….asleep! So I stopped my urge to eat it all and only ate half and saved the rest for him and lib to share.
Once Al and lib showed up Owen was still asleep and we had to decide what to do. It was about 5:00-5:30 so we took the slow boat to epcot to see if we could ride test track and eat somewhere at one of the countries in World Showcase. Well this is the slowest boat in the world! But Owen slept the whole time even through the boat horns going off. We were hungry and lib and I ordered sweet and sour chicken and took it over to Mexico where alan was eating. While we were eating Owen woke up and sat up in his stroller! Just kind of popped up! It was funny because it was dark outside now and we didn’t know he was awake! This kid had been asleep for 2 hours and all we had done was take the boat to epcot and ordered food! Jeez! Owen actually ate some sweet and sour chicken without any sauce of course. We just told him it was nuggets and I guess it is, sort of.
We walked over to Test track and the wait was 25min. but the fastpass machine was closed so me and lib went. But we did the single rider so we wouldn’t have to wait as long. I hate sitting by strangers but it was much faster. And speaking of faster did they speed test track up or is it just me? WOW! It goes so fast that your teeth feel like they must have bugs in them. You have that plastered smile and your teeth are dry it feels weird. And doesn’t look pretty in the picture either.
Next it was Alan’s turn to go with her. Lib makes out quite well at Disney, she gets to ride everything twice. Once with me and then with Alan, well of course just the things that Owen isn’t big enough for and that I am brave enough for.
Once we were all done we realized it was 8pm and that our car is still parked at MGM, which closed at 7pm. So the slow boat is no longer running to take us back over to get our car! Hmmmm how are we going to do this?
At the international gateway they told us to go to the Boardwalk hotel and tell the Downtown Disney bus driver to take us to MGM. They said that is what the driver is instructed to do. So off we went but, the driver at the boardwalk acted like he had never heard of such a thing and was not happy! He just shrugged his shoulders and said ok, get on. So at least he did it. But I will say the CM’s at the international gateway acted like this has happened before and it was what we were supposed to do. Well the bus of course dropped us up front at the hotel bus drop off area and the van was WAY over in the parking lot. With no trams running Alan went out to get the car and we walked over to another area so he could pick us up. There was not a person in sight anywhere it was really spooky!
Got in the van and it was 8:55, we were back at the hotel parking lot at 9:00 for karaoke! We watched till 10:30! Then up to room and into PJ’s and kids went to bed. Alan and I stayed up for the 11pm news to see the 5 day forcast. (there is no news at 10pm, I hate that!) The weather does not look good for the rest of the week!!
Worst: paying to park, the mean lady who wouldn’t let Owen have his sucker in the millionaire show. And Alan’s work phone calls. Trying to get back to our car. You don’t have these problems if you stay onsite and use the Disney busses.
Favorite: Walt’s show One Man’s Dream, riding test track. The fact that we didn’t have to pay a cab to get back to our car.
Owen woke me up at 8-8:30 and I got up with him. Alan got up a few minutes later. Showered, dressed and down to breakfast at 10:00am. Sausage and pancakes today and Owen ate a lot this morning! Went to game room for 15 minutes or so then out front for the free train rides. Alan had a couple of work calls and he is waiting on UPS to deliver a part for his laptop so the kids can watch it on the way home. At 11 we put our suits on and went down to pool. Alan came with us but kept leaving to check on his UPS package. Called home from the pool. UPS finally showed up at 12:30 so he went to room and messed with that for an hour! Me and kids came up to get snacks for the pool and he came back down with us. We rented an inflatable alligator at the pool for $5.00 an hour. (only got 1 hour) And we got in with them to play.
Around 3pm we all got out and went to room to get changed. We went for a drive over past the new Gaylord Palms hotel! Wow that is a big fancy place. We went over to the outlet store that was closed the other night. But we didn’t buy anything.
Now we are headed to the Bahama Breeze for dinner. We have a $25.00 gift card that we got from some travel points. Alan had seafood, I had steak and mashed potatoes and the kids had grilled cheese. The bill was about $50.00!!!! Good thing we have the $25 gift card but who knew the place was this expensive. We thought it was just like an Applebee’s, Bennigans or something like that. Wrong!
We went back to one of the outlet stores so lib could buy a tower of terror t-shirt that was $5.99 and was $20 in the parks! Stopped by Downtown Disney and looked around but didn’t buy anything. Now that we have discovered the cheap souviners at the outlets we just like to browse and look at the other places but buy where it is cheap! We get more bang for the buck. I did like the new display models that you can buy of the monorail and the hotels that go around it. I was wrong we did buy one thing. We went to the new toy store and bought one of the make your own Mr. Potato Head things for $15.00 and Alan worked very hard and way too long in my opinion stuffing that head full of parts! Gotta get as much bang for his buck I guess! It is a cute toy and Owen plays with it. Stopped to get our free chocolate sample in Ghirdelli’s. Owen played in the lego playground for a bit.
When we left here there was so much traffic around those downtown Disney hotels Alan said don’t ever plan a trip where we are staying at one of those hotels! It was just a wreck waiting to happen. Back to the room about 8-8:30 and Owen had fallen asleep in the car and gotten a short cat nap so now he was awake again! So at 9pm we went down for karaoke and Owen went in his Woody PJ’s. Lib and Owen (in his jimmies) got up on stage and sang twinkle twinkle little star. Then lib asked some girl she met to sing a song with her. So they sang dancing queen and we stayed till 10:45pm!!! Also when we 1st got down there to karaoke there were several families eating sharing large ice cream sundae’s so Alan went and got us one. It was called a family Sundae and was only $6 and big enough for all of us to share. This worked out cheaper than getting each of us a cone. The kids also did the free face painting. I was expecting something stupid but it was really good. Looked just like the stuff they charge $10.00 for in the parks.
Worst: That the meal at bahama breeze was so expensive. We thought it would be almost free with the gift card. Alan spending forever waiting on the package and fixing the laptop!
Favorite: Well I will say the meal at bahama breeze was very good! Swimming at the pool in Jan. and Owen singing karaoke in his Woody PJ’s!
Up at 7:00 (after staying at karaoke till 10:45 last night!!)
Down for breakfast at 8 and in the car heading to magic kingdom at 8:45. We parked so close that they didn’t even have a tram running in that area and we had to walk. We by passed a lot of characters but no time for that we only have 4 day hoppers this trip not 5 days and no time to waste! We went straight to Fantasyland and rode dumbo, peter pan, pooh, tea cups twice, and the race cars by 10:15 am! Only thing we had to wait for was the race cars. Went over and waited about 2-3 minutes for buzz so we rode twice then got fast passes for space mountain. Also took a spin on astro orbiter. Walked over for barnstormer and rode once with owen and then me and lib rode alone. Alan and lib went back to use the fast passes for space mountain so I took Owen into the bathroom. I just wheeled the stroller in with me and when I looked down at him he was asleep sitting up. I found some shade and sat down while we waited for them.
Once they showed up Alan had to make some phone calls (to order some kind of hot wheel that went on sale today, jeez! I would like to take that phone away from him on vacations!) So lib and I rode the TTA while he sat with Owen who was still sleeping. Then her and I went on buzz too since there was no wait. Back to the guys and Owen was awake and hungry so we went to find some food. Lib and I shared an adult chicken strip meal and coke $8, Owen and Al had hotdogs and fries from Casey’s $9. We ate at tables in front of the Plaza and Alan used the pay phones nearby to buy his hot wheels because there was a problem earlier? Over to 1st aid for some tylonol for me. My throat was hurting me. (I really don’t remember this at all!)
Then we cut through adventureland but road Aladin’s ride since there was no line. Got fastpasses for big thunder since there was a 40 minutes wait. There was only a 10 minute wait for splash so lib and I went to go ride but as we get on Alan yelled at us that Owen wanted to and he was just tall enough by the hair on the top of his little head! So we waited for them to catch up with us and we rode together and thought maybe we can buy the picture. Well he didn’t scream or cry he was a real trooper but he did get wet! He said he liked it but didn’t want to go again. His picture didn’t turn out since he was buried in Alan’s armpit so we talked him into going on again one more time so he could show grandma and grandpa the picture. Well they measured him this time and weren’t going to let him go but we said he is soaking wet from just coming off the ride!! So they let him. Jeez! He sat up big and tall this time and didn’t hide his face. Bought that picture a 5x7 for $12.95.
It was 3:00 now so we watched the parade and me and lib used our passes for big thunder. We had 4 so Alan went with her once. Now we are heading toward the castle for the show that is about to start but we stopped in the candy store and each got one chocolate treat $3.95 total. Then got seats in front of the castle and the kids played around till the show. After it was over we went to the Plaza to eat but looked at the menu outside and changed our minds. ($$) Instead we went to Pinochios, well they were closing up so we stopped off to ride the carousel out front and watch Merlin for a minute. Finally found food at Cosmic Ray’s got burgers for me and al and corn dogs for the kids, fries and 1 large drink $21.00. Which was pretty funny (or sad??) because all the cash we had on us was $21.12! Horror of Horror’s lib thought we might have to borrow a buck or two from her till we got back to the room to get some cash out of the safe.
Once we were done eating on our last cent! We watched the Spectro magic light parade. As soon as it was near the end we ran (ok, walked quickly) down to buzz and rode over and over 4 times I think. Then “ran” back to watch tinkerbell fly and see the fireworks. We thought since we had a nice bench we would just sit here and let the crowds leave the park since it is closed now instead of cramming along with them. After awhile we got bored and decided to look through the shops on Main Street on our way out but we found all the crowds! They were all in the shops! So we just went on out to the ferry boat and had to wait, then had to wait for the tram. This all took forever! Got to the car at 9pm! The park had closed at 7:30!! Jeez! Back to the room and watched Bachelorette then to bed! NO KARAOKE TONIGHT!
Worst: Nothing really. Maybe when we were almost out of cash and Lib thought we were going to try and rob her blind! But really that was more funny than anything! Oh, I thought of something else…….. taking forever to get out of that park! An hour and a half from closing till we got to the car. Some of which was because we sat and thought we would wait for the crowds to leave only to find out they weren’t leaving!
Favorite: Owen’s 1st ride on Splash mountain. Plus he did it twice and we got the picture! This is my favorite ride. And just riding pretty much whatever we wanted all day with no big lines.
Thurs. Jan. 23rd 2003
Alan and I got up at 8:30 today and kids about 9:15. Decided not to go to the parks today as we were all dog tired from the long day with no nap or break yesterday! It is also cold out today with 20-25mph winds! So down for breakfast at 10ish and then back to room and let kids watch TV till 11:30. Now you would think we would use this day to actually rest up and relax right?? NO not US!! We left for walmart to get some cold meds for me and to go to the Belz outlet mall to check out those Disney stores. We found lib a Rock and roller coaster t-shirt that is the same one she owns and loves but it outgrowing. It was only $5.99. I found the 2003 WDW calendar that they said they were sold out of at the parks and at downtown Disney. It was marked down to $4.99! I also bought some light purple washcloths with hidden mickeys on them for $1.99 each. Owen got a few small things too.
On the way back to the Disney area we stopped at taco bell for us and Mcdonald’s for Owen. ($10.00) We took it all back to the room to eat. Alan and Owen napped from 3:30 till 5:15 but I think I was food poisoned by taco bell and couldn’t sleep! Olivia worked on her homework.
Around 6ish we were getting bored in the room and went down to the lobby for face painting and owen played with some kids that were all watching the train go around the lobby area. We were watching people come back from a day at the parks and they were all wearing hats, coats, and even gloves! We realized that since it supposed to be even colder the next day and we are going to the parks we might need some gloves too. We had all our winter coats since it was only 11degrees when we left home! Lib and alan had gloves in there coat pockets but Owen and I needed some.
We got in the van to drive right down the road to Eckards drug store for gloves. They don’t sell them! Imagine a store in central florida not selling winter gloves. HAHA!! So we drove on down to walmart and found some for me but none for owen. Being creative we bought him some of those slipper socks that are thick and had him wear them on his hands. Oh, and lets not forget we also spent $8.00 on hot wheels!! Alan is now happy! ( it just kills him that the last trip we took and the one we are about to take we have no rental car! Just Disney busses! This means to quick trips to walmart!)
Back to the hotel at 8pm and used our coupon for a free pizza party of 1 free pizza, 1 order of breadsticks and 1 two liter of soda!! Love free stuff! I found out about this on the Disney internet site. We took it all over to the bingo/karaoke room and watched and ate while everyone finished up the last game of bingo.
Then Owen sang karaoke with lib and lib sang alone too. Stayed till 10:45pm!!
Worst: Spending way to much time today at Walmart! The cold and wind and not being able to find any gloves.
Favorite: Finding my calendar and it was marked down! Having our free pizza party and the kids doing karaoke.
Set the alarm for 7am but shut it off and slept till 8. Today is the coldest day that florida has seen in ?? years!! It is 28 degrees outside and this is central florida!!!!!!!! This would only happen to us!
And did I mention that the wind chill is 18 degrees?? YEAH! So we thought we would give it another hour or two to warm up. Do you think it can go from 28 to 75 degrees in 2 hours? No, not gonna happen!
Down for breakfast and to the van around 10am. Freezing outside! Now at home 30 degrees doesn’t feel this bad I don’t know why but this cold just hurts! We brought beach towels to use as blankets! We head to MGM and Al and lib go off to ride the 2 favorites and luckily they are both indoors! However, Owen and I are stuck sitting outside on a bench waiting for them. We use the towels and sit and shiver. Beauty and beast was getting ready to start and so we got up to go watch it but somehow we must have walked off and left owen’s buzz light up toy behind. As we walked away from the bench I turned my head back to see if I forgot anything and didn’t see it. But that was the last place we ever saw it! After we drug our cold butts over there they said that they were canceling the show! Too cold! WHAT!!!!!!!!!!! It’s ok for us to freeze and pay our way in but its’ too cold for them to have the show! I was not happy!
We went down by Rock n roller coaster to wait and saw the green army men. Owen was afraid of them. Then we took a potty break just to warm up in the bathroom. Took our time in there since it was nice and warm. When we came out we saw Al and lib were going to ride again!!! They had gotten fast passes and just rode without using them since there was no line but now they were going back to use the passes! I was not pleased to hear this cause we were bored and cold! But we heard that they were lining people up for a shortened beauty and the beast show so we went to go do that. While we were waiting this is when we noticed the missing buzz! Owen started crying and it wasn’t pretty. I thought I might shed a tear or two also, as I was not having a good day! But as they say the show must go on, and once it started he shut up. But those aluminum seats sure are cold on the butt. Al and lib showed up right when it was over and we all went for hot chocolate! Yeah, now this is the only good thing that has happened all morning.
We decide to leave the park about 12:30 and alan stopped at the lost and found. He was told that if he had his receipt for the toy that they would replace it for him with a new one. So when we left we drove to the hotel to see if the maid had taken out the trash yet and maybe it would be in there. NOPE not there! Trash had been taken already.
Well since everyone says that animal kingdom is the hottest sweatiest park there is we thought it would be a good place to go on a very cold day so we headed over there. As we rode the parking lot tram to the front of the park we held the towels over our heads because the air was freezing. I will say that at this point we had to laugh at it all. It was like the day finally became funny to us all. And we looked too stupid not to laugh!
After we entered the park there was a sign that said some of the live shows may be cancelled so check with guest services. We went in to GS to check and they didn’t seem to know for sure! They said the 1st lion king show had been cancelled this morning but they didn’t know about the others. The main reason we were here was to see that show.
We went back to camp Minnie Mickey and found lots of characters out. They were probably loving the cold weather so they didn’t have to sweat in the costumes! We had Minnie and goofy to ourselves and got pics with both characters in them. Then mickey came out and we got some with him too! This was fun having some alone time with them.
We saw that they were having the lion king show so we went and got seats. They had huge heaters set up all over the place. Show was good as usual. Then over to the Pocahontas show in a hurry as it was just starting. This show is really pretty bad especially after just seeing the very good lion king show! But the kids liked it and have just told me that they want to do it again next time we are there! Yeah!
Now it is snack/lunch time so we got a hot pretzel with cheese a churro and some hot chocolates. Not much of a lunch but it was all warm and we had eaten a late breakfast.
Off on our safari ride and I didn’t expect to see any animals I thought they would all be huddled together for warmth! But this was one of the best ones we have been on there were animals everywhere! We saw 2 lions and one huge one was laying out on the big rock that looks like pride rock from the lion king. Almost looked fake or set up but he was real!
Got some pics and alone time with a bunch of the pooh characters so we did this instead of watching the parade. Then we went and all rode triceratops spin and Owen HATED it!! That is sooooooo funny as it is the same ride as dumbo and the alladin’s magic carpets only this is little dinosaurs but I mean it is basically the same thing!! He loves both of the other rides but has yet to ever ride this one again…..HATES IT! He just kept saying “I am afraid of heights like my mom!” Alan and lib went and rode the coaster once and lib got me on and I really liked it! Who would have thought that! Lib and I ended up riding 4 times and didn’t have to get off most of the times cause there was no line! We had fun doing that. Alan took owen to the playground while we did this.
Lib and I went over to meet them at the playground and the park was closing it was 5pm! We were just getting warmed up (literally!) We headed out taking our time and looking at shops and stuff along the way. Went back to the hotel and owen fell asleep on the way so we (ok, alan) carried him up to the room and layed him down. He slept with his coat and shoes on for one hour! Alan laid with him and lib and I watched friends on TV in the living room.
At 7pm we had our 2nd wind and left for dinner at Joe’s Crab shack. Waited 20 minutes for a table but owen was in a good mood since he got a nap. I had never eaten here before but alan eats at Joes’ on business trips once in awhile. The food was VERY good. Owen got a corndog and lib had kids shrimp. Alan had crab legs and I had streak and shrimp with salad and mashed potatoes. It was all very good we were also starved to death since we had a snack for lunch and it was 7:30pm! Back to the room around 9pm and went down for karaoke of course! But didn’t stay long, went to bed at 10pm.
Worst: the COLD! Also Owen losing his toy.
Favorite: Ended up having a very enjoyable day at Animal Kingdom despite the cold. Me and lib riding the coaster 4 times in a row, the lion king show and the safari with so many animals out. Also our meal at Joe’s. yumm!
Don’t know what time we got up but as we were ready to go eat breakfast I sent alan to the car with a couple of suitcase’s that we were done with and we met in lobby to eat.
Off to the magic kingdom at 9:30am. Got stuck parking a mile away from the tram and had to walk. This always happens to us.
Went to fantasyland and rode peter pan and small world the rode goofy’s barnstormer 3 times except Owen only twice for him. Went through minnie’s house and did the tea cups. Then went to get fast passes for Buzz and lib and al went on space mountain while we waited for our fast pass time. Owen and I got in line for a pic and autograph with Buzzlightyear himself! Then rode the TTA twice.
Then we all met up and took a bathroom break and called to make a PS for ( chef Mickey’s I think?? ) now it was time for us all to ride buzz. We ended up riding 3 times. Then we went to 1st aid for Tylenol. You would think we would carry this on us but we never do!
And over to adventureland for egg rolls for me and al. The kids shared an order of Mcd’s fries. The best, hottest and freshest Mcd’s fries are at Disney! Got a table and all sat and ate trying not to be attacked by the hungry birds.
Went and rode Big thunder and got fast passes so we got to ride twice. Then Alan left the park to go out and move the car over to the contemporary hotel. You can only park there for a certain amount of hours and so they wouldn’t let us park there this morning. So our plan was that while the kids and I watched the afternoon parade he would go take the car over and park it there so that when we leave tonight we won’t have to fight the crowds to get out of here. The park was a lot busier today since it wasn’t nearly as cold as yesterday and it was a Saturday.
The kids and I watched the parade in front of where the country bears show is and when it was over we could go in and get seats for the next show. Owen fell asleep at the end of the show so we carried him out and put him in his stroller. Lib and I bought a popcorn and sat and ate that while we let owen sleep and waited for Alan who still wasn’t back yet!
When he showed up at 4:15 and our fast passes were expired for big thunder but we took a chance and they let us on anyway. Once we were done we went to eat dinner at Pecos Bill’s and had hamburgers, hotdog and fries ($18.00). Owen was still asleep but he woke up while we were eating.
Left and went to ride on haunted mansion and we met CM Olivia. She saw Olivia’s name tag and said she had the same name and she was very nice talking to us and then she said “I have to get back into character now”. And she started being scary again. It was funny. Owen announced that he wanted to ride Peter Pan again! But the wait was 40 minutes and there were no fast passes left for today. So we talked him into something else and he picked small world and 2 turns on the carousel.
We headed back to ride goofy’s barnstormer and all rode twice then lib and I rode one last time while Alan took Owen over to see how long the wait was for the race cars. Spectro light parade had started while we were on the coaster and looked cool from way up there.
When we got over to the boys they were just loading onto there car so we watched them ride/drive. Now over to buzz for our last ride of the trip. We rode 2 or 3 times and then made our way to the front of the park and did some pin trading along the way. We took our time since we were waiting for the fireworks to start. We have never watched them from in front of the train station looking down toward the castle. It makes it look just like on TV commercials. As soon as they were over we headed out but instead of waiting for the boat and then the tram we just walked next door to the contemporary hotel to our car! (we are so bad!!)
When we got to the van there was a surprise for Owen waiting in his car seat. It was his buzz lightyear light up spinning toy that he had lost at MGM. Well maybe not the one he lost?? But when alan moved the car he stopped off at the main lost and found for all of Disney and asked if they had found one. Well of course they had as there are thousand’s of these things all over the parks so Alan said great and thanks and took it! Now we are sure it wasn’t the exact one we lost because Owen had dropped his from his stroller and it had a mark on it and this one didn’t but OH WELL! At least he has one now. Alan was very proud of himself for doing this too!
We stopped off to fill up the van with gas and back to the room about 8:00-8:30. Packed A LOT till 9pm then guess what we did??? Yep! Went down for karaoke!! One last time! Owen was hungry and got something to eat. And we all shared the family sundae one last time. ($6.00)
The kids decided not to sing tonight after all since there were too many people there. Back to the room at 11pm! And set the alarm for 6:30!
Worst: nothing much. Maybe just the parking thing.
Favorite: Owen meeting Buzz in person. This was a very big deal for him and he was so happy. Also just being in the magic kingdom, LOVE that park! Owen getting his light up toy back at the end of the trip.
Alarm went off at 6:30 and we wished we were flying home! REALLY REALLY WISHED IT !!!!!!!!! Up showered, packed all the last minute stuff and ate breakfast in lobby quickly. Left hotel at 7:30am!
After this I didn’t write anything else but let’s just say that it was a LONG drive home and Owen didn’t sleep all that much. Stopped for the night somewhere but don’t know where and then got home on Monday the 27th. It was a holiday for lib and no school as it was Martin Luther King day.
Thoughts:
Loved the hotel. Loved all the free and fun stuff they had like face painting, bingo, karaoke, and the hot breakfast. We did stay here again the summer of 2003 just months later for 6 nights while Alan was on a business trip and we didn’t do any Disney parks that trip (just 2 days at sea world). We kept ourselves busy at the hotel. However, it was June and the place was a lot busier so the karaoke wasn’t as much fun with huge amounts of people. Kids were too scared to try it. Breakfast was also crazier then and hard to get a table. We like this hotel much better during the slow season. But then again we like Disney better then too. I will say that typing this less then 2 years later this hotel is very hard to find such good rates at. The word got out on the place and it is hard to find it for less then $100 a night!!
Had the parks all to ourselves so that helps make up for the cooler weather not for the down right ice cold day though.
As I read this it says I was sick with a sore throat but I don’t remember that at all.
Also when I read through each day it does come back to me but it seems like forever ago not less then 2 years. Some of our trips that were forever ago are much more fresh in my memory then this one. Weird I know.
Glad we got to swim at least a little to try out the pool before it got too cold.
Owen was a real trooper at only 3 and a half years. He was afraid of some things but willing to try some new stuff too. And when the kid got tired he just fell right to sleep in his stroller and we would lay him back and let him snooze. Always woke up in a good mood. This is almost the same age that Olivia was the 1st time she ever went to Disney. We took her Dec. 93 so she was 3 years and almost 3 months. Owen was 3 years and 6 months. Of course Olivia’s 1st trip was only for 2 nights.
Also it’s probably a good thing that we went as it did take the mind off of losing Mustang. It would have been really hard at home. This gave us time to realize or come to terms with him being gone without being in our own house without him. And without having it on the mind 24/7 nonstop.
As we say any trip to Disney is a good trip.