A Spring Fling to WDW About This Page:

[beachandteach]

Let me just preface this entire trip report by saying that our trip was truly magical. Planning paid off in so many ways. Thanks to all you Passporters out there who offered advice and tips.

We left Charleston, WV bright and early on May 18th, 5:30 am to be exact. DS had never flown before. He is eight and was a little nervous (mostly about getting through security). Go figure. Anyway, our flight to DC was on time and at Dulles we switched planes to continue on to Orlando. It was a gorgeous day to be traveling. DS loves to fly now.

When we were disembarking the plane at Orlando, DS wanted to know how fast we were flying. We asked the pilot and not only did he answer the question…he let Hunter (DS) sit in the pilot’s chair and check out some of the equipment. Talk about making memories!

I have an absolutely precious picture of Captain Hunter that I will do my best to share with you guys.

Tiffany Town Car met us exactly where they said they would. Their little sign John, the driver was holding up said "Hunter Fitzwater". This was per my instructions and was set up as a surprise to Hunter. John made the trip to our resort quick and pleasant. He was full of great information.

We got to All-Star Sports by noon. There was no line at check in. By 1:00 after a quick lunch we were taking a relaxing swim in the resort’s pool.

Our room was ready by about 2:30 so we all took a much needed nap.

We stayed in Home Run Hotel (as requested) since Hunter’s fave sport is baseball. Our room was on the 1st floor and very quiet. He loved it!

Our story picks up later in the evening at MGM. There were extra magic hours there that evening. EMH in the evening rock by the way. I hope that Disney will make this a regular option for WDW resort guests.


Memories of our first day:
The weather was sunny and warm.
Funniest thing about the day: The old guys at the Muppet’s are just a scream…we are still quoting them.
Worst thing about the day: The migraine I had upon arriving in Orlando
Today we tried seabands and earplanes and both were quite successful. I also recommend getting the refillable mugs at the resort the first day.
The most magical moment was(it is a tie) Fantasmic and Hunter in the captain’s seat of a 737
Next time we will travel the evening before our first day at WDW attractions.

[buckysmom]

Great start, and it sounds like Hunter had a magical beginning. Hope it stayed that way!

[luvnwdwgal]

Great start!! What a special day for Hunter!!! Looking forward to more!!

[statelady01]

Talk about some magical memories!! Excellent start- looking forward to hearing more!

[DrDolphin]

Wow! What a great start - I can't wait to read more.

[desiab]

[ QUOTE ]

DS had never flown before. He is eight and was a little nervous (mostly about getting through security). Go figure.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is too funny.

[ QUOTE ]
When we were disembarking the plane at Orlando, DS wanted to know how fast we were flying. We asked the pilot and not only did he answer the question…he let Hunter (DS) sit in the pilot’s chair and check out some of the equipment. Talk about making memories!



[/ QUOTE ]

It sounds like there was some pixie dust sprinkled on your family trip from the start.

[Mel & Richard]

I'm glad the whole flight thing went so well. Hopefully he'll be looking forward to it next time.

Mel

[Colexis Mom]

Great start, I hope you will be able to share pictures

Looking forward to more

[whoSEZ]

Lorie -- this is a great start! Looking forward to hearing more.

[beachandteach]

Trip Report Day 1 Cont. Fantabulous Fantasmic

MGM was the first park we toured. There were absolutely no lines. How great was that? We arrived at MGM around 5:00 and saw Indiana Jones and the Muppets before dinner.

We had PS at Sci-Fi Dine in Theater for 7:00. The food was marginal, but you have to give the place a good mark for atmosphere. We primarily went there for the benefit of DS. He loves the corny old monster flicks. Sitting in the cars was really fun for him as well.

Dinner was relaxing and I think we went through the movie reel 2 ½ times. One on the servers wore roller skates. Since we were going to take advantage of the EMH that evening, we didn’t feel compelled to swallow our food whole.

After dinner we did the Great Movie Ride. This ride is not on my E ride list, but it was a good experience for DS. It does capture some great moments in film classics. The thought of an alien hanging down from the ceiling did cause some concern for him. He was fine and said that the alien was just mostly gross.

There were younger children in the seat in front of us. They were terrified throughout most of the ride. It does have its scary and dark parts. They might not have ridden anything for the rest of their vacation!




Just when you think Disney can’t possibly create anything more wonderful…. You witness Fantasmic. The talent and imagination used to create Fantasmic just boggles my mind. The artistry is just beautiful. The music of Disney is so universal. How wonderful for people of all nationalities to experience the same feelings and connect over something as simple as a song. Everything about Fantasmic is just too awesome for words. It is larger than life. You just have to see it for yourself.

We arrived for the show about 45 minutes before it started. I would not recommend this for later in the summer season. The outdoor theater fills up quickly. I wondered if in the summer time there would be two shows. We sat on the far left side of the theater (hard to get out from that location when the show is over) about eight rows down from the top row. We could see everything just fine. Hunter was awe struck and so were we. I can't wait to see it again.

After the show we headed toward some major thrills.

Aerosmith’s Rockin’ Roller Coaster should make Steven Tyler proud. The first 2.8 seconds took my breath away and I thought I had made a huge mistake in riding the thing. But that is part of the fun isn’t it? I love all the songs that play during the ride. So, instead of screaming the entire time I just sang along. "Walk this way." I can do anything for 90 seconds. What a ride!

We purchased the picture that was shot at "take-off". It is pretty funny. The hosts of "Whose Line is it Anyway" were in the car just ahead of us. We had a fast pass ( these also totally rock) for this attraction and had a minimal wait. After that, we packed it in for the night. We all slept well. DH said the bed was too soft. DS and I never noticed. We wouldn’t have cared anyway.

We will probably not eat at Sci-Fi again. There are a few places in MGM that I would like to try. Maybe next trip we will give the Fantasmic dinner package a whirl.

This pretty well sums up the rest of our first day.

Next stop-EPCOT.

I am still working on getting pictures to upload and to do it in the correct size. Cmputers are not my forte.

[buckysmom]

What a great day!
Thanks for posting, and I always appreciate the restaurant reviews. I'm pretty sure Sci Fi WON'T make my short list
Looking forward to your next update.

[Annabel]

What a great start to your report. Look forward to reading more. Thanks for sharing.

Annabel

[Colexis Mom]

Great update We were at MGM for EMH as well, we must have passed in the night (we saw the hosts too in the park!)

[luvnwdwgal]

So glad you had such a nice evening at MGM! How cool to have ridden on RnRC behind some celebrities!

[beachandteach]

Wonder why we didn't pick each other out of the crowd? Ha Ha.