THE BEST WEEK LONG BIRTHDAY PARTY EVER!!! The best part was we were all together! Trip Report: Sept 7th - 17th, 2008 **Updated 10/3** About This Page:

[I_am_Annie]

Cast of Characters:

• Me, (Angela - Had my 30th in WDW. AWESOME!)
• DH (Marc - 31) Didn't get Disney before we went. Proud to say, he's now a convert. :P
• DS (Aaron - 2) LOVES Mickey Mouse, Had a great time while we were away and wants to go back every day since. (Just like the rest of us.)

Dates of Vacation:
Sept 7, 2008 – September 17, 2008

Resort while in Disney:
Port Orleans French Quarter

Special Occasion:
I turned 30!

Package Type:
Magic Your Way Tickets w/ Park Hopper & Upgraded Deluxe Dining.

Here is a link to my Pre-trip report:

The Pied Hurricane Piper turns 30 - POFQ - Sept. 10th through 15th. A Pre trip report.


And now, the first part of the trip report...

Sunday Sept 7th
First leg of trip to Harrisburg / Hershey PA.

We were slated to leave at 6am. So, I think (being that we were up till 2am the night before) we did pretty well to be out and on the road for 6:40am.
We stopped in Brockville ON at the McDonalds for breakfast and the service was SOOOOOO slow that it took me over a half hour to get back to the car with breakfast.

A few rest stops later and we found ourselves in Chocolate heaven... Hershey PA. I highly recommend a trip on the Great American Chocolate Factory tour if you’re in the area. Its a little cheesy. But really entertaining at the same time. (Kind of in the same way “It’s a small world” is.) Aaron LOVED the singing cows. So, after a quick tour around the attached outlet, a few pics of Aaron with the worlds largest chocolate bar, and a stuffed cow, we were on our way to the Disney Outlet, Cheeburger Cheeburger and the hotel.




When Marc and I go on a road trip, we have always enjoyed finding food we can’t get where we live. And thus, when we saw online that there was a Cheeburger Cheeburger 15 minutes from the hotel, on our itinerary it went! ... Not so impressed really. We pulled up to the manager using the MOST profane language while berating one of his employees at the front door. The food was really greasy, and the server was confused. Both Marc and I left feeling a little disappointed that we hadn’t just ate at the Chik-Fil-A in the same parking lot.
After a night in the Wingate by Wyndam in Harrisburg, we were off to our next destination of Charlotte NC.


Monday Sept 8th
Second Leg of the trip to Charlotte, NC

We were over an hour late leaving for Charlotte Monday morning. But, we were tired from the day before and I let both the little man and the big man sleep in an effort to ensure a happy day of driving.
Sadly, this cost us our visit to Discovery Place in Charlotte. As well as a good look at the city which from what I saw, is gorgeous. It did however, not cost us an ounce of the culinary exploration that we had had planned... We are big fans of the show “Diners, Drive-ins & Dives” on the Food Network. And whilst planning we saw a couple episodes that convinced us that Charlotte was a place we HAD to stop on our journey. We decided when we stopped somewhere in West Virginia (just for gas and snacks) and Marc overheard a restaurant patron ask for a fat old opossum for lunch that we’d better just stick with the plan and we drove straight to The Penguin Drive in (in Charlotte) and had a late lunch in their fried pickles (AWESOME!), road runner hotdog and a corn dog.
Then we headed over to the hotel for a swim and a nap before meeting friends at Mert’s Heart & Soul for dinner.
Let me just say that up until this vacation, I would have sworn up and down that the friendliest people on earth were living on Canada’s east coast. But, I stood corrected for the majority of the time I was in Charlotte. Mert’s Heart & Soul is just that. I didn’t meet Mert. But, the heart & soul of his employees is put into every ounce of his business. The food is amazing. And the hospitality somehow manages to out weigh it. Aaron fell asleep on the table in the restaurant before his meal (what had to be the yummiest grilled cheese ever. Even cold) and the staff took a bunch of pictures. I think one of them is going on the wall at their front door.

Tues Sept 9
Still in Charlotte
Then, because we had such an awesome experience at Mert’s, we decided to wait around the next day until Bill Spoon’s BBQ opened. This meant that we would not be leaving Charlotte until 11:30am and not arriving in Daytona until around 8pm. But, with Ike causing some rain in the area anyway, we figured our beach plans were tanked to begin with.
BILL SPOONS IS FABULOUS!!! It is a must stop for us anytime we’re within an hour or two of our route on any of our future road trips. First of all, we were outside waiting for it open 20 minutes early. Out came Mrs. Spoon (Mr. Spoon passed away last year) and said “Are you waitin’ to get in here Honey? Let me just get ‘em going for you.” And not 2 minutes later she was opening the doors for us. I think everyone in the restaurant said hello and welcomed us in. Our food was up in minutes and our glasses of sweet tea never got to be less than half full. There was conversation and free hushpuppies and cookies for Aaron. And it broke our hearts to leave. But, we did. And on our way out of the parking lot, Mrs. Spoon reappeared to ensure that we had enjoyed our meal and tell us a little about what it had been like when she and her husband had run it years ago. We chatted about where we were from and where we were going. And it was almost as though we were talking to family. I would make the trip to Charlotte again and again just to eat there.

(Sorry I ate some of my BBQ first.)
Third leg of the trip – Daytona Beach FL.
We rolled into Daytona about 8pm and fell in love with our hotel room in the Hilton. It was spacious and fresh. We toyed with the idea of getting more BBQ. But decided on a cruise down the strip (atlantic avenue) and picking up Papa John’s pizza and calling it a night. After all, we had to be up early the next morning to start our REAL adventure in the Magic Kingdom.

[mcc0313]

Great start...can't wait to read more.

[PixieDustDiva]

The picture of your son asleep on the table is precious! Great start

[oldmom]

Love those kind of resturants. We usually ask locals where they eat and have been to some awesome small places.

[bsblady01]

more please

[lissybri]

Great start. Your son is adorable. Now I want to visit Charlotte. The food sounds and looks delicious and everyone is so nice. I must go there someday. Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

[Colexis Mom]

Great start to your adventures!! More please

[I_am_Annie]

Great start...can't wait to read more.

Thank you! I can't wait to write more. It really was the best vacation/birthday party ever!

The picture of your son asleep on the table is precious! Great start

Thank You. I can tell you that he is right gone in that pic. He didn't move once. I think I actually reached over to feel if there was breath coming from his nostrils.

Love those kind of resturants. We usually ask locals where they eat and have been to some awesome small places.

You should watch Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on Food Network. It is all about those places.

more please

Done.

Great start. Your son is adorable. Now I want to visit Charlotte. The food sounds and looks delicious and everyone is so nice. I must go there someday. Can't wait to hear more about your trip.

It is SOOOO worth the trip. I promise you. And while you're there, can you order me some and ship it back to Ottawa? :P

Great start to your adventures!! More please

Ok. Here goes!

[I_am_Annie]

And so it begins... Our Visit to the Happiest Place on Earth.

Marc was so excited when we got up Wednesday morning that he wanted to get on the road right away. So, after a quick look at the ocean (because it had been too dark when we arrived the night before) we got on the road and assured Aaron that today was the day we would be going to Mickey’s house (up until then he had gone running from the van every time we’d gotten out of it yelling “Mickey? Hi Mickey!!!)


By the time we got out of the van at Port Orleans French Quarter (our Disney hotel) we were all overwhelmed. I’d been tearing up when we hit the “Welcome to Walt Disney World” sign. Aaron did not want to get out of the van and go check in. (I think he thought that Mickey actually lived THERE)

Our check in was less than stellar. The CM was helpful. But, certainly not as friendly as I had imagined. She gave me a 1st time button for Aaron. But, when I asked for one for Marc, she gave me a weird look. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like asking for my birthday button right then.

After picking up our tickets for the Hoop Dee Doo, checking out our room and unloading our stuff (WHAT A WALK!!! It was very hot and we underestimated what we had and didn’t get bell service.) Marc sent me out of the room so he could take care of some birthday business. I went and took some pics of the resort and then popped into the gift shop to buy a Pal Mickey and a “gift from Mickey” for Aaron and Marc. It took me a little longer than anticipated. So Marc was all done with his birthday business when I got back and we were all wanting to get going...

So off we went to the Magic Kingdom.

We were so excited to be off to the Magic Kingdom that we neglected to change Aaron’s diaper before we got on the bus. This only delayed us a little bit and soon Marc, Aaron, the “Mickey” bus and I were off to catch our first glimpse of the Magic Kingdom. We stopped at the front gates for a few pics in front of the train station and Aaron noticed all the Mickey confetti on the ground. He had to pick up every piece that he saw. It was really cute and he drew an awful lot of attention because every time he saw another piece he’d say “Mickey! Daddy/Mommy nook (look) MICKEY!” and pick it up. Needless to say, they all ended up in my pocket.



We walked into the centre hub and immediately realized that we were surrounded by CMs who had the area roped off for the beginning of the Family Fun Day parade. We quietly exited and made our way up Main St. USA towards the Castle. We of course stopped for the obligatory Castle pics, and then stopped for the parade. If it hadn’t hit Aaron before hand, it certainly would have hit him as he saw Pluto come dancing up the street towards him.
After the parade, Marc spotted an ice cream cart and we bee lined for it in order to try our first Mickey bars... HEAVEN ON A STICK!!! That is, until my half eaten bar fell off the stick and landed squarely on my flip flop...

I wasn’t looking for another Mickey bar... It was awesome and wonderful. But I was getting full anyway and at that point on our journey (notice: at that point) my mind was still clearly focused on maintaining my pre-trip weight loss. But, I did need something to take the ice cream & chocolate concoction off my shoe & foot. So, I walked back over to the ice cream cart (we had only walked a few feet away from the cart to eat the bars) and asked for a couple of napkins. The CM asked me what had happened and I explained that the ice cream bar had fallen off the stick and landed on my foot. To which she replied “oh no. THAT is NOT happening in your first 2 minutes in the park!” (When I’d gotten the bars, I had been really excited and told her that we had just gotten there and we had only been in the park about 2 minutes... ) I was surprised that she remembered what I had said. And even more surprised and touched when she handed me a new Mickey bar!

New Mickey bar in hand (and totally in awe of the kindness that was shown to me), we began to make our way around the Castle hub and into Adventureland to experience the first ride listed on our touring plan... The Jungle Cruise...
This was my Grandfather’s favourite ride and I can remember him telling me about the hippos popping from the water before my first trip in April 1988. So, it was kind of a nod to that when I chose it as our first ride when I did the touring plan.

It was a good choice because Aaron LOVED it! And it was a good introduction to old time Disney for Marc!



The park was so low traffic that day that I wished we had been in the park earlier. We did 4 rides in an hour and waited no more than 5 minutes for any of them. After the Jungle Cruise, we headed over to the Magic Carpets of Aladdin which Aaron adored. He (and we) hated to leave it.



Next up was the Enchanted Tiki room. I remembered seeing this with my family in 1988. Although, its changed a fair bit since then, it was still pretty cute. It did scare Aaron a bit when the lights went off. But, I figured he was getting to nap time and was a little more sensitive than usual.

He was out cold in Marc’s arms by the time we got to Pirates of the Caribbean and he slept right through the entire ride and into the next couple hours as well. The reaction Marc had to Pirates was just as I had hoped it would be. He had a look of amazement and admiration at the special effects (the “water” at the top of the waterfall wasn’t there in ’88 and I thought it was pretty cool too.) and at the detail that he doesn’t have very often. He told me afterwards that he couldn’t believe that the ride had been around for so long and yet everything looked so new.

In the time it had taken us to ride Pirates, the skies had opened up and were raining down on us. So, We put Aaron in his stroller (still sleeping) and headed around to check out Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain. We figured that the best time to ride a water ride is when its raining and you’re already wet. But, not when there is thunder and lightning. And that’s what started just as we rounded the bend. So, being that the rides were closed, we wanted mouse ears anyway, and it was almost time to catch the ferry over to Fort Wilderness for our 5pm seating at the Hoop Dee Doo, we made our way back to Main St. USA and hit Le Chapeau. We debated at making our own ears, but went with the traditional black instead and had our names embroidered on the back. Afterwards, I saw a Birthday Cake top hat that I considered buying, but decided not to. (Now I kind of wish I had it though.)

As we were heading out through the left arch, my croc flip flops hit a pretty deep puddle and my left foot hydroplaned through it sending me down square on my right knee. OUCH! The pain shot right up my leg and into my back. I grabbed Marc’s outstretched hand and made it back to 2 feet. People coming the other way (into the park) were really concerned and asking if I was ok. It was really nice of them. But I was really embarrassed, so I told them I was ok and got moving. Marc could tell I was hurt and kept asking if I was ok and if I needed to go to first aid. But, I didn’t want to miss our dinner reservations, so I declined and once we got on the ferry, I checked it out. There wasn’t any noticeable cuts. But it was swelling up pretty nicely.

The rain was nice enough to stop while we were on the ferry. But, I was still very careful walking from the dock to Pioneer Hall (where the Hoop Dee Doo is held). We were a little too early to check in, and by this point Aaron was awake, so we went over to the ranch and had a good conversation with the horses. After a bit it was time to check in and have our pictures done. The 5pm show was sold out, and there was quite a crowd. After some confusion in the lines to get in (Apparently the hostess was quite confused), we entered and were seated on the first floor, just under the balcony to stage left. The seats were great and we were able to see everything very well.

There were 3 reasons we chose to book the Hoop Dee Doo. The first one being that our son really seems to love hokey country music and we knew he’d love the show. The second being that its been around forever and we felt we should see it. And the third (the thing that sold Marc on it) being that it came with “unlimited beer and wine”. So, you can imagine our surprise when the waiter refused to serve us.

You see, we didn’t have any id with us to prove our age. We had gone into the parks with only our Key to the World cards and a small amount of cash for tipping. No one (not when I made the reservation, nor when I picked up the tickets, nor when they called to confirm the reservation to the room) told me that we would need to have our id. I guess in retrospect, it makes sense. But, I know that no one said anything because I would have written it down in the Passporter like I had written everything else down. I also know that no one said anything when we got the tickets that day because Marc was playing attention to everything like a hawk because he was afraid it would get charged to his mastercard. And, the CM at the check in desk told us not to take anything else but the KTTW card with us to the park. So that is what we did.

It wouldn’t have been so bad if the waiter hadn’t been so snippy about it when Marc tried to order a beer. Neither one of us look like we’re under 25, much less under 21 (oh how I wish I did though) and he actually went into a bit of a rant about why he wasn’t serving us and that he knew we were told that we needed to have our id there. After a while, Marc went up and asked the manager about it. The manager apologized, got us another server, and our drinks were on the table a few minutes later.

The food itself was great! It was plentiful and so tasty! Not the best meal we had in the park. But, pretty darn good. Aaron ate so much that night that he was actually a little sick after. This says a lot because he’s more of a child who grazes than gorges himself on food. The show was pretty funny as well. We all enjoyed it, and Aaron had a great time too.



When the show was finished, we were greeted with another torrential downpour. And, a crowd of people waiting to get in to Pioneer Hall all clustered under the cover of the porch roof. It was impossible to get around to the stroller (buried in the crowd. But thankfully under cover) so we had to go the long way and then make our way to the bus stop because the ferry back to the Magic Kingdom was closed because of lightning.

This was what the entire rest of the 5pm Hoop Dee Doo patrons were doing so we found ourselves a spot under the shelter and waited it out until the buses leaving for Wilderness Lodge weren’t so crowded. In the meantime, we had a nice conversation with a couple from Boston who was just finishing up their trip. It was a good way to pass the time, and I think that is when it dawned on me that I truly was in a whole different world here. (I didn’t have a birthday button yet, so it wasn’t as blatantly obvious to me then as it would be in the days to come. :P )

We made it back to the Magic Kingdom in one piece and saw that the line for the bus for the French Quarter was almost spilling out of the stantions. So knowing from my Passporter research that it was only about a 20 minute walk between Riverside and the French Quarter, we decided to hop on the Riverside bus that was waiting and only had about 3 people on it. We weren’t the only ones that decided to do this and found ourselves 2 other friendly families to walk back with. We were back in our room about 10 minutes later. And, it was a really pretty walk.

We got our swimsuits on and went for a before bed swim and then called it a night. (Incidentally, this is where my “OH-I-HATE-SWIMMING-SO-MUCH” child became my “PLEASE-DADDY-CAN-WE-GO-FIMMING???” child.)

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update!! Glad you got a new Mickey bar!! Sorry about your knee and the rude server at HDDR!! Sounds like a great first day!! More please

[a&a's mama]

This is a great trip report and I live near Charlotte and never eaten at either of those places. I am going to have to try them now!!

[njsmama]

Great start! I can't wait for more! Your son is darling....I love toddler language!

[mcc0313]

Sorry about your knee - I hope it did not give you much trouble during the rest of your trip. What a great day at MK (minus the rain) but low crowds and little lines....glad you got to enjoy so much.

I am glad the manager was able to help you at the HDD and that you were able to have a drink. I can understand why the server was following the rules but he could have been less snippy or even offered to talk to the manager for you....

Glad you were able to grab a POR bus and enjoy your walk - we did that a few times on our trip when we stayed at the POR.

[Lemap760]

Great start to your trip. I love watching Diners, Drive ins and Dives. One day I hope to actually make it to one of those places they showcase.

[cynholjot]

You take such great pictures of your son. I wish I could remember to actually use my camera, when I remember to bring it that is. I the one of him looking in the mirror admiring his ears. Great TR so far.