Unforgettable: Our First WDW Adventure 9/5-18 About This Page:

[Cinderella_68]

I just wanted to start this TR by saying that I thank God for the opportunity to make this trip. Like all big, and not so big things in life, I like to consult with Him before I go off half-cocked. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] I am grateful that this trip was part of His will for me and my family, and for the many ways in which he made this special time together possible for us. (One of those ways, I am convinced, was by sending me to be a part of this community.) I also want to say, that if I ever have to be somewhere when something so sad and scary happens to our country, I hope that I am at Disney.
I'd like to dedicate this TR to Cruella and all the rest of our Passporter community whose lives were directly affected by the terror. May God comfort each and every one of our Passporter community and be with you and your families as we begin a new chapter of history. Our prayers can do more for our country than we think they can.

[Cinderella_68]

Unforgettable: Our first WDW Adventure
Cast:Me (Cinderella_68), 33
DH, 29
DD, 10
DS, 2
Nana, 55
Nephew, David, 8
Adventure Dates: 9-5-01 to 9-18-01


Day 1: Getting there is half the fun...or not

All of a sudden, I remember how it feels to be a kid, as I wake up this morning. Our 12:40PM departure can’t get here fast enough! (Note to self: next time, leave very early AM, and don’t listen to Nana when she wants a later departure.)
The suspense almost kills me, but thank goodness there is still plenty of packing to be finished which keeps me busy most of the morning. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] After my packing list has been checked and re-checked, we get it all into two large suitcases, everything split between the two, in case the airlines loses one of them. The kids have color books, crayons, CD’s, books, toys, snacks, earplanes, to keep them busy/comfortable, I have my new Danielle Steele book and my Passporter, and we are off to the airport!
Many times in the months prior to our trip, I have passed the Lindbergh Field Airport and thought with a smile that the day was approaching when we would be taking off from here, on to our highly anticipated first visit to WDW. Well, that day had arrived!
Arriving at the airport two hours before take-off, we checked in curbside, (not knowing that this would be one of the last days in which we’d have this luxury,) and headed to the gate. We had a snack at a deli near the gate, even though we were scheduled to have lunch and dinner service on the plane. You never know what kind of surprises they’ll throw at you on your little tray table. We took out a deck of cards and the two older kids and I played Go Fish. There was anxiety in my nephew’s eyes as time approached to board the plane. He had watched a documentary on television two weeks prior, about a flight that went down in Iowa in the 80’s. He had cried all that night, and up until a few days before the trip was adamant that he wasn’t going to go to WDW if it meant getting on a plane! I never did find out what changed his mind, but when the boarding call came, we were finally on our way!

Are we there, yet?

Our plane trip was uneventful. I knew that we would be in the air for over six hours, but knowing it and doing it are two different things. I just wanted to hurry up and get there! I managed to start my paperback and get to the good stuff before we arrived in Houston. The kids alternately napped and played with their toys and stuff. Lunch was interesting: cheeseburger in a baggie. Mom actually liked it…must have been the altitude affecting her taste buds or something. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] Dinner was a cold chicken breast sandwich, which wasn’t as bad.
Once in Houston, we played musical gates, without the music. DD and nephew wanted a souvenir from Texas, and we pulled in late giving us about a half an hour in Houston. Their spending money was burning a hole in their pockets, so we high-tailed it for the gift shop and they quickly chose a nice magnet each and we made it back to the gate in time for boarding.

Quick, somebody pinch me!

It was close to 10:30PM when we made our final approach to Orlando. I was so excited I couldn’t sit still and peered over my DD and DS out the window. I couldn’t believe it, a year and a half of planning and we were really going to WDW!
The airport was surprisingly quiet as we disembarked the plane and headed to the baggage to look for our TTC driver. When we approached the monorail that would take us to the main building, I was so excited! It looked just like the one in Nate’s pictures. We MUST be here!
DD and I recognized the voice on the monorail as the one who narrates the train ride at Disneyland. We giggled as we exited and proceeded to the baggage claim where Luis was patiently waiting for us. We got our bags and Luis brought the van around and we were quickly on the road.
The temperature at 10:30PM worried me just a bit. It was very warm and muggy. Okay, I knew it was going to be warm and muggy, but if it was this warm, this late at night, how were we going to cope with daytime? I hoped that we wouldn’t melt like a Mickey bar the next day. (Like Mickey bars ever last long enough to have a chance to melt… [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )
I can’t believe how many billboards there are down there! Luis wasn’t very talkative, and seemed a little annoyed when I reminded him that we needed a grocery stop. I hadn’t thought that maybe there wouldn’t be anything open at that time of night. Almost all of our grocery stores are open 24 hours, so I didn’t think that the ones in Orlando might not be open. He ended up taking us to Gooding’s at Crossroads Plaza. Boy, you guys weren’t kidding that it was expensive!! We ended up spending $30 for a cooler, which my husband said we could think of as an “investment.” O-kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…. (Note: it ended up being less expensive than a piece of luggage as we ended up packing it and checking it on the way back.) We ended up spending $100 on cereal, milk, fruit, pop tarts, bottled water, Pepsi, and the cooler. Yikes! Still, it would come out less expensive than eating out breakfast every day for all six of us, and we found out that getting up at 5 AM was harder than it seemed it should be when you are coming from Pacific time. Being able to do breakfast in 10 minutes helped our touring schedule on more than one occasion. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
We checked in quickly at Shades of Green. It looked just like the pictures I’d seen. We were here. We were really here! It still felt unreal, like some kind of dream. Maybe it was just the time change. Maybe it was because it was nearing midnight. I asked my DH to pinch me. He just laughed and gave me a hug.
We had requested two connecting rooms on the ground floor facing the Millpond Pool. Our requests were honored and we were very pleased with the rooms. We unpacked while watching the news, and saw that rain was expected for the next day. We had originally planned to go to a water park the next day, but decided to go to Animal Kingdom, instead. After arranging for a wake-up call, we wearily climbed into bed and fell asleep, ready to begin our adventure in earnest!

[ 09-21-2001: Message edited by: Cinderella_68 ]

[Brant]

Wow, I am enjoying your report extremely so far! From the POV of a first-time visitor, there's this certain..contagious excitement in your telling of your trip. Keep up the great work, yo necesito mas!

-Jose Carioca

[All Ears]

Cheeseburger in a baggie?! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
Great report so far. Keep it coming!
[img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] All Ears

[Fortissimo]

Cheeseburger in a baggie? Cold chicken sandwhich?

Sounds like the school lunches here! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

I can hardly wait for the next chapter!

[bfth]

Yup, it is the "monorail" voice of Jack Wagner in the airport as well as at WDW and DL. Makes that first "ride" seem Disney-like! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Cinderella_68]

Unforgettable: Our first WDW Adventure
Cast:Me (Cinderella_68), 33
DH, 29
DD, 10
DS, 2
Nana, 55
Nephew, David, 8
Adventure Dates: 9-5-01 to 9-18-01

Day 2: Continents and Countries and Belly Dancers, Oh My!

Part I
The phone ringing at 6 AM rudely awakened us. Hey, wait!…we’re in Florida…Walt Disney World!! We quickly showered, using our new foo-foo smelly stuff, and then we had what passed for coffee in our room. I don’t know if it was the coffee, the water, or the coffee makers, but suffice to say, Starbuck’s it wasn’t! Our plans had already been changed due to weather, but that was a theme we revisited over and over in the days to come.
Oh my goodness, it was warm already by 7:30 AM! The humidity felt heavy in the air around us as we waited for the bus in the rocking chairs outside the main entrance to the hotel. We were excited, although our bodies were convinced that is was only 4:30 AM.

Buses, they’re not just for school anymore…

We wanted to get to the park early and were shooting for 7:15 to be there before park opening, but missed the 7AM bus, so we hopped onto the 8 AM bus instead. (Note: At Shades of Green, there are two buses. One bus runs continuously about every 20 minutes to and from the TTC. The other bus runs on the hour from SoG to Animal Kingdom at 15 after the hour, Blizzard Beach at 30 after the hour and MGM at 45 after the hour. This was not my favorite bus.)
Do you know how long it had been since I’d been on a bus?! I felt like I should be carrying a lunchbox with my backpack for a moment. It was very nice not having to worry about driving, since being Southern Californians, we had to be surgically removed from our vehicles prior to this trip. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
As we rode the bus towards Animal Kingdom, I opened up my Passporter and tracked our progress and route on the back cover property map. I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but I wasn’t expecting it all to be so green. We became very excited as we saw landmarks from the parks come into view! DD recognized the Tower of Terror, and we saw Summit Plummet atop Blizzard beach from the road.
I was seeing these landmarks, further proof that we were, indeed, in WDW, but that feeling of being in a dream kept haunting me. We were really here. I thanked God for making a dream come true.
We disembarked the bus at AK and proceeded to the front gates. Being from CA and being used to Disneyland, and recently, DtD and DCA, all I have to say is: WHEW, what a walk! It became quickly apparent in our trip that no amount of walking at DL would prepare us for all the walking we’d be doing here. The entrance was far from the buses for what we were used to, and we’d worked up quite a sweat getting to the front gate. It was hot!
As we passed through the gates and into the oasis, I had to fight the urge to go into commando mode, and to just enjoy. Then, all of a sudden, there it was…right in front of us: The Tree. WOW! It started to hit me…girlfriend, YOU are at WDW! Of course we had to stop and take pictures, but the kids weren’t as patient, though, and they wanted a ride! So we followed the map, feeling like without one we’d be desperately lost, to Africa and the Kilimanjaro Safari. Along the way, we passed Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa posing for pictures and signing autograph books. DD already had all of these autographs in her book, and since she’s not one for duplicates, she passed.
The Safari was a walk on, a theme we would run into all during our vacation. It’s the kind of theme we really like. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Our guide was from Africa and did a good job of narration. (I certainly couldn’t imagine having to do so many “performances” every day and making each one count. Or maybe it was just that it was still early&#8230 [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] The kids really liked this attraction and we saw many animals, including the lions, cheetah, and giraffes, which were within 5 feet of the vehicle. Breathtaking. The safari was incredible and the animals looked very comfortable in their surroundings. Mom and I tried to compare it to the Wild Animal Park here in San Diego, but there’s just no comparison. Apples and oranges, so to speak.
After the safari, we got lost trying to make our way to Dinoland. Next time we go to AK, I’m bringing a compass. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] We stumbled back upon the Tree of Life, and from there, we could find Dinoland. Now, my nephew, David is a dinosaur fanatic. He wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up. The high point of the planning for him was finding out that AK had a Dinoland and that there was a ride featuring dinosaurs.
We were surprised to find the baby swap so different from Disney in CA, but it was nice that our little one got to enjoy the queues for many of the attractions he couldn’t ride, not like in Anaheim. There was barely a wait for the preshow, and we were off, back in time to find Aladar!
DD was apprehensive about this ride, since the WDW for Kids by Kids rated it as scary. We finally coaxed her to try it, since we wouldn’t be back to WDW for years, and if she didn’t like it, she would know and wouldn’t have to ride it again. She was very brave, and kinda actually liked it, I think.
Two words best describe this ride for me: dark and loud! I found myself ducking to avoid dinosaurs and I have to admit the last dinosaur made me close my eyes! We laughed at the photos they took of us, as DD had her face hidden behind her hands in it. Needless to say, David was ready to ride again with DH for the baby swap! And in the meanwhile, DS had picked out some very lovely parting gifts in the gift shop. Nothing like a dinosaur to give you warm fuzzies…

Watch, as the thirsty tourist stalks its prey, the ice cold Zephyrill…

From Dinosaur, the kids clamored for the Boneyard next, which was fine by mom and me! DH and the kids entered the Boneyard while mom and I were on the prowl for a cold drink. (We had already polished off the ones we’d brought to the park with us.) Many of the small stands and counter service places were closed, as expected, so locating our prey was not as easy as we expected. Oh, but the water was ICE cold, and felt so good! I checked to make sure I wasn’t melting, and pinched myself one more time. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
As we headed back to the meeting place, the kids passed overhead on a bridge and we called out to them. They were definitely having fun!
Exiting from the Boneyard, they looked like they had begun to melt, and we offered them cold water, which they gulped, and rest in the shade, but they wanted nothing to do with resting. They wanted another ride! How about a nice stroll to see exotic animals? Nope. Ride. I had to admit that something involving water DID have a refreshing sound to it, as we were pretty hot, so we found ourselves off to Kali River.
As we walked, I marveled at the details in everything. It really felt like we were somewhere else. The foliage served to act as a further barrier to reality, as we moved along the trails around the Tree and to another country. (Note: Because we have experienced ITTBAB at DCA, and while a great show, we didn’t want to see it again, we didn’t get to explore the Tree as closely as we would have liked, although we did pause for pictures in front of the Tree. Mental Note to Self: This is a priority for the next trip.)

I warned him wear sneakers to the parks…

Kali River Rafts were a walk on, and took longer to get to the loading than anything else. DH decided to stay back with DS the first trip. The signs warn that you will get wet, and you may get soaked. Hah! (Thank goodness I’d heeded the words of the wise and had removed our shoes and socks and placed them in the middle of the raft!)
As we neared the geysers, we marveled at the geyser before us, shooting high up into the air. Acting like a barrier, the raft stopped the geyser as we passed over it. Unfortunately, there were still many gallons of water poised in the air, planning on a return trip to earth…and we were directly under them. WHOOOSH! Soaking number one! Oh, but it felt sooooo goooooooood!! Coming down the falls found us going backwards, and a giant wave of water engulfed us, soaking whatever fibers of our clothing and parts of our bodies that hadn’t been wet before. And it felt REALLY gooooood! [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
Dripping wet, we headed back to where DH was, and couldn’t resist another ride with him while Nana stayed with DS and wrung herself out a bit. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] (The ride was still a walk on.) This time, DH and nephew bore the worst of the soaking, although we did manage to take on more water, as well. We rode in the raft with a lovely family from Australia and had great fun anticipating the next soaking and who would receive it. Everyone had removed their shoes, especially my DH who decided to wear his new suede cowboy boots to the park today. (He’s a little red about the neck [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )
We really enjoyed KRR, mostly for the soaking, but it was nicely themed, as well. We got squirted unexpectedly by a statue on the way to the loading area.
Dripping wet, we decided to head back to the hotel, since the bus would be there shortly, and we were fading fast on 4 hours or so of sleep, and needed a nap and some lunch. Nothing at the park sounded appetizing to my very picky eater, DH, so we opted to check out Evergreens at the hotel. There was a small argument from the under five foot faction, but when we threw in a dip in the pool after the nap, they were appeased. We stopped a few times on the way out to purchase t-shirts and other souvenirs, especially for my 3 year old neice who didn’t come with us, our nephew’s little sister. (She gets to come next time, but we still felt guilty.)
We never did make it back to AK on this trip, but I figure that just gives us new experiences to anticipate for our next adventure.