Ditching the Hubbies for Mousefest - Final Thoughts COMPLETED 3/4/08 About This Page:

[Minnie Lor]

Oh, and I'm with you about the bathroom on the airplane. I don't drink alot on the day I'm flying, just for that reason.

[SouthernBelle]

WAHOO, you are there, can't wait to read the next installment.

Ditto on the airplane bathrooms

[chezp]

Great updates - I'm so with you about airplane restrooms!

[PrincessSharon]

You made it to Orlando! Too bad you had to use the airplane bathroom. Now the fun starts! Can't wait for more!

[DawnDenise]

I silently sneak back into the forum and update my trip report as it has been over a month. Now that life has gotten back to some normalcy and I have gotten all needed pics, I can update away. I am determined to get this TR finished before my next trip in less than 30 days. Can't have rollover, now can I? Now on with the show!!!

Day 1, Part 2: Pop Warner hits us early, Our Room is Ready, and our first Visit to MK

We make it down to the DME check-in area. I wandered aimlessly as Tiff got us checked in. She called my name and directed me to the cattle lines for the resorts. We were in line 5 for Old Key West and Saratoga Springs. It was amazing to see all the girls for Pop Warner go bopping by with their hair all curled and up in ponytails with ribbons, as their family members dragged the carts of luggage behind them. One thing that amazed me was the fact that they all had full luggage. I know and understand those who just bring carry-on luggage or feel the need to pick their baggage up and not use the full DME service of letting DME take care of getting the bags. I myself not worrying about my baggage and how it magically appears in my room when I return that first night. It just seemed like more of a hassle and the moods of the families around us were far from upbeat. I digress….

As we were waiting to be released, we overheard (not eavesdropping, right Eileen?) the family behind us wondering if they were in the right line as another portion of their family went to a different line. We asked where they were going and they said Port Orleans. Tiff and I double-checked our sign and mentioned that they might not be in the right line but then kind of left it alone. As we continued to wait, the family of 5 behind us kept complaining and wondering and would not ask a Cast Member anything as they were directed to line 5. Out of the kindness of our hearts (or for our sanity ), we called a CM over to assist this family.

Now at this point they saw the porter they had left their mountain of luggage start loading their luggage on a DME bus. The dad of the group started going ballistic and ran out to stop the porter while the CM spoke with the mom. They got the porter to stop loading the luggage and then called the family out of the line to try and sort out their situation. I could go on and on (and I won’t) of the conversation being held between the CMs and this family. DME eventually got their luggage onto another bus (Our bus) and POFQ became one of our new stops. We did a little seat dance when the bus driver announced that SSR would be the first stop, then OKW, and then POFQ. And that would be the last we encountered any Pop Warner issues.

We enjoyed the welcome movie enjoyed the ride to our resort. Tiff was excited to be going “home”, and I was excited to see SSR as I had never been to the resort. We disembarked from the bus and headed right into check-in. We got a wonderful CM who was more than happy to provide us with two of everything (gotta scrapbookers). We easily paid for the DDP and got all the charging privileges squared away. The CM advised us we were in the Grandstands (which is what Tiff requested) and that our room was ready. She tried to direct us on the map but both Tiff and I got a little confused. Luckily, we grabbed a Bell Services guy who took us by golf cart to our room. He literally took us to our door as we were right inside the walkway on the first floor.

We thanked him but forgot to tip him (don’t worry, we got him on our last day too and made up for it! ), and headed into our room. Talk about impressed!! Having stayed at OKW in June with Tiff I was really looking forward to seeing SSR as we weren’t overly impressed with our stay at OKW. I loved the room and how it was set up. We were in a studio which was plenty of room for the two of us. We dropped off our carry-ons and repacked our park bags. Before we knew it, we were headed to the bus stop which was an easy walk from our room.

I don’t remember if we waited long but a bus for MK came and we were all smiles as we boarded the bus. As we were riding along, we got in touch with the CLT and let them know we were there and headed to MK. Tiff called Karen back and they asked what time our ADR was for 1900 Park Fare, as they had a reservation for 5 @ 8:00pm. As Tiff finished talking with them, I called Disney Dining and cancelled our ADR. We made plans to give them a call once we were headed over to GF.

Once we got to MK, we headed directly to Guest Services so Tiff could upgrade her hopper to an AP and purchase DDE. The CM was extremely helpful in getting this all taken care of (not bad on the eyes either :wink: ), including letting Tiff keep her Hopper ticket for scrapbooking purposes. After that was taken care of, we finally made our way into the Magic Kingdom. Our first stop was Le Chapeau as I needed to get a pair of “My First Ears” for my niece as it is only fit that I get her started on Disney as early as possible. We had them sent them back to the resort and headed to find something to snack on as we had a late dinner now. We stopped to grab some pics in front of the castle and to get our Photopass for the trip. These pics are not my faves. My hair had a mind of its own.



Tiff wanted Figaro Fries and the only place that sold those were Pinocchio’s Village Haus, so that is where we went. The place was pretty busy being that it was 2:00pm but we managed to get our orders in quickly. Now, I wasn’t sure what we were getting but boy did it look yummy.



After munching away and satisfying our hunger, we headed to The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh for our ride through the Hundred Acres Wood before we headed to Tomorrowland. We had a 20 minute wait that went pretty quickly.








We headed over to Tomorrowland as our goal was to hit as many attractions as possible before heading over to meet the girls. The wait for Space Mosntain was 45 minutes so we passed on that and grabbed TTA. I this ride. It was a great relaxing start to the trip and we took some great pictures along the way. (Please note that the pictures are a combination of my pics, Tiff’s pics, and the Photopass pics.)








After TTA, we decised to conquer Emperor Zurg with Buzz Lightyear. I took some photos in the queue, and I have to thank Tiff for running interference with me with the other people in the line so I could get pictures. Tiff and I got separate buggies as I wanted a pre-fight picture. Of course, Tiff beat me as I had a lousy 22,900 points and she was up near 80,000 or something. Still, it was fun as always!!





Next, we headed over to the Carousel of Progress. We walked right into a theater and were off through the years. As a side note, it was on this attraction that I fell in love with my camera. This was the first trip I brought my Nikon DSLR. I read my owner’s manual before leaving in hopes of getting some good shots and this attraction was my first test. Without a flash, I finally got shots of CoP that are clear.





When we were exiting CoP, we noticed that Stitch was out for pictures and I’m not one to pass up the opportunity to see a character so we went to stand in the relatively short line. They had a Photopass photographer so that freed us up to just interact with Stitch. Now tiff definitely got some love from the little blue alien with one of his sloppy kisses.



I believe we decided to check out the Laugh Floor next. This was a first for both of us. The queue is very cool with so many “monster” related things. I think I enjoyed the queue as much as the show itself. After viewing the pre-show, we headed into the theater and enjoyed the corniness of the Monsters. I love how they really brought the audience into the show.






Mike’s Door

After a quick glance at our watch, we knew we had to start making our way back down Main Street and head over to the GF.

Coming Up: Leaving MK, Meeting up with the CLT, and Dinner w/ the Stepsisters

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you made it to the room and to MK What great pictures Keep it coming

[Caldercup]

Yay You're on property!!

Love the story of the craziness at DME... Oy....

And I'm so glad you loved queue of the Laugh Floor -- I was really impressed by the themeing there!

More, more, more!
Eileen

[chezp]

Great installment Dawn - glad to see you're writing again. I love your photos of Carousel of Progress!

[WDWfan]

Dawn - Glad you made an update. Tiff's Stitch picture had me . it!

[RobDVC]

An excellent start to your trip!

[DyanKJ130]

Great update, Dawn!! So glad you were able to check in and make it to MK. We haven't been to Pinocchio's in ages....what exactly is on the Figaro Fries? When looking at the menu on AllEars, I always thought they were just regular fries!

Can't wait to hear about your meet with the CLT at the GF!

[DawnDenise]

Originally Posted by DyanKJ130

We haven't been to Pinocchio's in ages....what exactly is on the Figaro Fries? When looking at the menu on AllEars, I always thought they were just regular fries!

Fries, Cheese, Lettuce, Bacon, Tomatoes, and ranch dressing. You know...REAL healthy.

[lindawdw]

Sounds like a great day so far! I love the pics from the COP! Can't wait to hear about your GF dinner with the girls!