Our 1st Holiday Trip to WDW (COMPLETED 1/4/05) About This Page:

[SharonK0527]

Hi everyone!! I know, I know, I've been back from this trip for almost a month and I'm just finally getting around to writing my trip report. But you have to remember we've had Christmas AND my birthday since that time, plus getting all the photos downloaded so I can put them in my report

So if you're all ready, buckle up and away we go....!!

As most of you know, the first part of this trip began as an 8-day cruise on Royal Caribbean. This portion of my trip report will only cover the Disney part of our trip.

<font color="blue"> Day 1, Sunday 11/28/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 </font>

We were in the third to last group to disembark the ship this morning in Fort Lauderdale. We ended up getting off the ship around 10:00am and took a taxi to Fort Lauderdale Airport to pick up our rental car from Budget. We reserved a full-size 4-door car. I waited in line for about 30 minutes. The car they gave me was a white Buick LeSabre. It was a nice car. As I was pulling it out of the parking space to drive around to the front of the building to pick up Lee &amp; Savannah (waiting with the luggage), I noticed a little LCD message scroll across the dashboard indicating the oil was low. I flagged down someone who worked there and they had me drive the car back to the maintenance area. They said they could either get me another car or I would have to wait about 30 minutes for them to change the oil. I didn't want to wait any more so I opted for another car. They took me inside right to the front of the line and got me another car immediately. This one was a white Ford Taurus, 4-door. We loaded up the luggage and were on our way to Orlando! After driving for about 30 minutes, we decided to stop at a McDonald's and get a quick bite for lunch so Savannah could take a nap during the drive. We ate in the car and were back on the road in about 20 minutes. I drove while Lee &amp; Savannah both napped. Traffic was minimal and with the speed limit being 70mph, I was able to drive 75-80mph the whole way which made the drive quicker than we thought it would be. By the time Lee woke up, we were only 35 miles from Orlando After a quick stop for gas, bathroom break, and some Starbucks coffee, we were on our way again.

During the drive from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando the hurricane damage was very apparent. Most of the wooden billboards along the highway were completely destroyed. Lots of trees were knocked down or damaged. Some homes still had blue tarps covering their roofs.

Finally we made it - the archway into Walt Disney World with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy welcoming us!! When I saw it coming up ahead, I made sure Savannah was looking out the window. When she saw it she started yelling "Walt Disney World!! We made it!! Mickey, I'm coming! I finally made it!" Lee &amp; I were cracking up

Coming up....Day 1, Part 2 - our first night

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day 1, Sunday 11/28/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 2 </font>

The first thing we did was drive to Downtown Disney to buy our Annual Passes We walked around a little bit and did some window shopping and let Savannah play at the Lego playground for a while. After the long ride in the car, she needed to run and stretch her legs. Here are some cute photos I took of things made entirely out of Legos:





We then headed over to Port Orleans French Quarter to check in. It was about 4:00pm and there was no line. I had booked a water-view smoking room. We were assigned to Building 2, room 2232. If we stay at this resort again (which we probably will), I will definitely request that room again. It was in the perfect location - right by the boat dock, overlooking the river and you could see the pool a little as well. It is a corner room so there are two set of windows instead of one. It was very close to the elevators, the pool, and the main building.




Fountain in lobby




View of boat dock from our room


View of river from our room

We were impressed with the size of the room and were thrilled to find that we had a complimentary fridge. The fridge was actually bigger than we were expecting and we used it throughout the trip to store juice and sodas.

We had a priority seating scheduled at 5:30pm at Boatrights over at Port Orleans Riverside but we opted to cancel it and just take time to unpack and get settled in. We decided we would just grab some dinner at the food court instead. We went for dinner around 6:00pm to Sassagoula Float Works (the food court). Savannah had a cheeseburger and fries. I had a chicken parmesan meal that came with a side order of spaghetti, a small salad, and a breadstick. Lee ordered a chicken club wrap that came with potato chips. My chicken was good but I didn't eat the spaghetti - too much food. Lee's chicken club wrap was awesome! I knew I would have to get one of those before the trip was over. After dinner we had a 7:00pm reservation for a carriage ride over at Port Orleans Riverside so we loaded Savannah in her stroller and took the walking path that winds along the river over to Riverside. The carriage stand is over near the boat dock, behind Boatrights. The carriage was very pretty with leather seats and a blanket to use if you got chilly. Our horse's name was Luke and he was a Belgian. The carriage ride starts out by going all around Riverside and then heads over to ride around French Quarter. It was a very nice ride and Luke was wearing his jingle bell harness which put us in the holiday spirit. The ride was nice and relaxing and a really nice way to spend our first evening at Disney.



After the ride we walked back to French Quarter, refilled our mugs at the food court, and headed back to our room so I could start gathering up the laundry. I did 3 loads of laundry and while I was waiting for them to wash I sat out by the pool. It was quiet, only a few people in the pool, and I just sat there and let the Disney ambience start sinking in. Lee was really sweet by offering to go down to the laundry room and fold everything since I had washed and dried them. While Lee was downstairs folding the clothes, I stayed in the room and watched TV after I put Savannah to bed. When Lee came back we put away all the clothes, watched a little more TV and then it was lights out.

<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font> arriving at Disney!
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font> having to pay so much to do laundry
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> Savannah's reaction when we passed through the Disney arch and arrived on Disney property.
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> we became Annual Passholders, we stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter, we took the carriage ride at Port Orleans Riverside.
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> sitting out by the pool late at night when it was quiet and just letting the Disney mood start taking hold!

<font color="black"> Coming up....Day Two - Savannah comes face to face with a Dinosaur! </font>

[kimdisneynut]

Great start

Thanks

Kim

[CarolRose]

Great report and photos! Looking forward to more!

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Two, Monday 11/29/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 - Animal Kingdom </font>

We awoke around 7:00am to get ready for early entry at Animal Kingdom. I had set a wake-up call for 7:23am so Savannah would already be awake and wouldn't miss hearing it. When the phone rang I told her it was for her and she took the phone. She thought Mickey was really on the phone and started talking to him! She was saying "Mickey, it's me, can you hear me?"

We stopped at the food court on our way out so we could fill our mugs with coffee and get Savannah some juice. We arrived at Animal Kingdom shortly after the 8am early entry time.

Animal Kingdom Christmas Tree

Decorations at Animal Kingdom


Our first stop was It's Tough To Be A Bug. Savannah still doesn't like this one - the bugs scare her. After that we headed over to Kilimanjaro Safaris where there was no wait - we walked right on. This was the best safari we've done yet. Because it was still early in the day, many of the animals were out and active. The highlight of the safari was rounding a bend and having a white rhino come out of the bushes right next to the vehicle! He was so close we probably could have touched him if we leaned our arms out. Here are some pictures from the safari:







After the safari, we walked back past It's Tough To Be A Bug and found Flik. Savannah had never met Flik before so she was excited to see him. We also stopped and took pictures with Lilo &amp; Stitch.

We then headed over to Camp Minnie/Mickey because Savannah had been begging us for the last two hours to see Mickey. She finally got to see him and was a happy girl While we were there, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald were also out signing so we went to see them too. Goofy was cute, all decked out in his Santa outfit and Minnie was adorable in her little Christmas skirt and sweater.

Lee gets a kiss from Minnie

Family with Mickey


After Camp MM, we grabbed some lunch at Pizzafari. Lee had an individual pepperoni pizza and I had an individual cheese pizza. Savannah had the kids pb&amp;j meal which also included apple sauce, goldfish cheese crackers, and a drink. After lunch we headed over to Dinoland. Here comes the theme of our trip - Savannah is now 40" tall and she knows it. Anything that she was big enough to go on, she went on - including Dinosaur!! I kept telling her it would be loud, dark, and scary because I wanted her to know what to expect but I also wanted to assure her that if she did decide to go on the ride that the dinosaurs were not allowed to touch her so nothing would hurt her. We went on it and of course she was very scared. As soon as the ride ended she said in a trembling voice "That was scary. Can we go again??" I couldn't believe it! She actually wanted to go again. The second time on the ride she was still scared but I could tell she now knew what to expect and she allowed herself to relax a little bit and scream at the scary parts and even laughed because it scared her. She wanted to go on it a 3rd time but we said no and headed over to Dino-rama.

Savannah getting ready to brave Dinosaur


We survived!


I took Savannah on Triceratop Spin (kind of mild after going on Dinosaur) while Lee went on Primeval Whirl. We somehow managed to get off the rides at the same time and Lee took Savannah to play some of the carnival games while I took a turn on Primeval Whirl. I had never been on this ride before and I must say I really enjoyed it It was really fun with all the spinning and little hills and corners you whip around. We had started out the day in jeans and by now it was getting really warm out so we went to the restrooms and changed into shorts and headed over to Kali River Rapids. Again, Savannah was tall enough so on the ride we went - again no wait. Up until this point the longest wait we had was 5 minutes for Triceratop Spin. Everything else we walked right on. We went on Kali River Rapids and of course we were the 3 in the raft who ended up getting absolutely soaked!! By this time it was mid-afternoon and we have the Candlelight Processional tonight at 5:00pm so we headed back to the hotel. On the way out, we stopped to get a look at the construction that is under way for the new Expedition Everest.


<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Two, Part Two - Candlelight Processional </font>

[Tara O'Hara]

[ QUOTE ]
She was saying "Mickey, it's me, can you hear me?"


[/ QUOTE ]

Sharon, your report is great and your pictures are wonderful!

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Sharon Can't wait for more Great pictures as well

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Two, Monday 11/29/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 2 </font>

We got back to the hotel around 3:00pm. I really wanted Savannah to take a nap but ever since we checked in yesterday she has been begging us to go on the dragon water slide at the pool at French Quarter. So we all put on our swimsuits and went down to the pool for about 30 minutes. We had a great time playing on the slide.





After swimming, we went back to the room to change and get ready for our evening at Epcot. We had reservations for the 5:00pm Candlelight Processional and at 4:45pm we were just parking the car at Epcot! Now it was a question of how fast can we run? We hustled and actually made it over to the America pavilion at 5:00!! We were out of breath, but we made it. We showed our priority seating badges and got seats in the front row. Now for a concert, these would have been awesome seats. But next time we do CP, I will sit farther back. The problem with sitting right in front is you're looking up at the stage, not straight out so you don't get the view of the entire stage. Later after dinner we walked past the pavilion again while the show was going on and all the lights and colors were so pretty - you really miss a lot of the beauty of the show by sitting in front. Heather Headley was our narrator and she did a great job. This was her first time narrating CP and towards the end she started to get choked up with the emotion of it all. A few times I saw her wiping her eyes with a tissue. At the end she gave a very heartfelt thanks to the audience for letting her be a part of the show and saying how much she enjoyed it.



After the show we got some coffee and walked over to Norway. Savannah wanted to ride Maelstrom. She loved it so much that as we were getting out of the boat she turned to the cast member who was working the ride and said "I want to go again." The CM was so sweet, she said "You do, huh?" and she let us through some ropes that led us right back to the loading area for the ride! We got to get right on and go again! (Magic Moment) After the second ride we headed over to Restaurant Marrakesh in Morocco for our 7:00pm dinner PS. This was a beautiful restaurant. The musicians were playing and the belly dancer was performing as we arrived at our table. The belly dancer was a great performer and the music &amp; atmosphere in the restaurant felt very authentic. Shortly after we were seated the dancer &amp; musicians took a break, but they came back about 30 minutes later. For an appetizer we ordered the combination platter which came with beef brewat rolls, chicken bastilla, and Jasmina salad. For entrees, Lee ordered the chicken couscous, I had the lemon chicken, and Savannah (surprise surprise) had a hamburger and fries. For dessert we had the Crepes Atlas (apple crepes with ice cream and almonds). The food was very good. I would eat here again, but there are so many other restaurants in Epcot we have yet to try that I would rather try some of those first.

Restaurant Marrakesh

Lee &amp; belly dancer


After dinner Savannah wanted to go on Maelstrom again so we did that one more time. Afterwards, we found a spot to watch Illuminations. It wasn't the greatest spot but we could see everything okay. We were past Mexico, heading toward the gateway that leads back over to Future World (near where they put up the giant Christmas tree). Shortly after Illuminations started, a few people standing in front of us left so we took their spot right along the fence which made for a really good view. Illuminations was great as always. They added a special holiday ending with the music "Let There Be Peace on Earth". There were red &amp; green lasers, pictures of doves and children and the word "Peace" written in all different languages on the globe. It was VERY moving and very beautiful. The fireworks that accompanied the special ending were great!

As we made our way to the front of the park to leave for the night, there were cast members waving good night to everyone. They were holding up signs in different languages and smiling and waving, telling everyone to have a good night. Lee smiled and said "See, that's one of the reasons why I love Disney so much". I made him repeat what he had said just to make sure my ears weren't playing tricks on me. Sure enough, he said he loves Disney!!!! (cue the Angel choir singing choruses of Hallelujah) Finally, he's converted!! The more we go to Disney, the more I see him enjoying it. I don't know if he'll ever love Disney as much as I do, but at least now I know he definitely enjoys our trips there and that makes me really happy



<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font> watching the holiday version of Illuminations
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font>having to rush through Epcot to get to the Candlelight Processional on time
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> Savannah going on Dinosaur and being so scared but then begging to go on it again
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> Meeting Flik, Savannah going on Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids, me riding Primeval Whirl, Candlelight Processional, dinner at Restaurant Marrakesh
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> leaving Epcot for the night and hearing Lee say how much he has come to love our trips to Disney

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Three - Not a creature was stirring, except Mickey Mouse </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Three, Tuesday 11/30/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 - Epcot </font>

We slept in this morning. After we woke up, we called our friends Josh &amp; Kelly who we had met on the cruise the week before. They were staying at a timeshare in Orlando until Thursday. We asked them what their plans were for this evening and they said they didn't have any. I told them about MVMCP and they said it sounded great. I called Disney and confirmed that tonight's party was not sold out. So Josh &amp; Kelly decided to go and we made plans to meet at Liberty Tree Tavern at 4:45pm (the same time &amp; location as the Passporter meet).

We decided to head over to Epcot and walk through Future World. We grabbed some breakfast from the food court. Savannah &amp; I shared some beignets **YUM** and Lee had a breakfast platter with scrambled eggs, hash browns, and sausage. We drove over to Epcot. The first attraction we went to was Spaceship Earth because Savannah always asks if we can go in "the big ball". After that we headed over toward Test Track. Savannah is tall enough for that now too. The stand-by wait time said 30 minutes but it ended up only being about 15 minutes. Savannah absolutely loved Test Track!!! She of course wanted to go again so we grabbed some fastpasses and headed over to Mission:Space to check out the wait time. There was no wait. While Lee went on MS (his favorite attraction at WDW) I kept Savannah busy by waiting a few minutes in line for her to meet Space Mickey and Space Goofy - they were so cute in their little astronaut costumes!


While we waited for Lee to get off MS, we went in the gift shop and I bought him a MS pin for his lanyard and a really cool MS baseball cap. Lee came off the ride grinning from ear to ear, as usual

We headed back over to Test Track and had an ice cream while we waited for our Fastpass window to open up. We could see the stand-by line had gotten pretty long by this point. The fastpass line had no wait so when it was our turn we walked right on - God bless fastpass! After our second ride on Test Track we headed back to the hotel for naps so we would be refreshed for MVMCP tonight.

Epcot Christmas Tree


<font color="black"> Coming up....Day Three, Part 2 - Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party </font>

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Three, Tuesday 11/30/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 2 - MVMCP </font>

Around 4:00pm we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for our Passporter meet at 4:45pm. I took this picture of Savannah as we entered the Magic Kingdom and we turned down Main Street and she saw the castle ahead of her.



I sat down outside Liberty Tree Tavern and noticed a family across from me on a bench. We kept eyeing each other so I started to wonder if it was Kathy (kathy320). I walked over to her and sure enough, it was Kathy!! Our daughters are very close in age so they had a great time running around together and playing tag while the adults chatted. Shortly after Kathy &amp; I met, I saw two more women approaching us. I knew instantly from the pictures in her trip reports that it was Angie (poohsgal)!! She had her Mom with her. Also during this time Josh &amp; Kelly joined us. We all chatted and took some pictures.
From left: Angie's Mom (holding Kathy's son), Kathy, Me, Angie, Kelly. In front are Kathy's daughter &amp; Savannah.


Originally I had a PS for 5:15pm at LTT but at the last minute we decided to cancel it and eat somewhere less expensive. So I went into LTT and cancelled the PS (there were a lot of people trying to get in so I know I made someone happy by canceling). Kathy and her family were having dinner there so we said goodbye and parted ways.

Our group plus Angie and her mom walked over to Pirates of the Caribbean and went on that together. We had a good laugh when, during one of the dark parts of the ride, Lee reached forward in the boat and grabbed Angie and her mom on the shoulders and said "Boo!" really loudly. We all jumped when he did that! After Pirates, we said goodbye to Angie and her mom as they were going to have dinner at Pecos Bills. Josh, Kelly, Lee, Savannah &amp; I headed over towards Splash Mountain. You guessed it - Savannah is big enough to ride that now too. I just worked up the nerve last year to go on this ride for the first time and here's my 4 year old already going on it! There was no line whatsoever so we walked right on the ride. Afterward, we purchased the photo of us on the ride and by that time all of the rides were shutting down and they started herding people over towards Tomorrowland. About halfway to Tomorrowland, a cast member walking past us said that the whole park was now open! We immediately went and had our photo taken - again, no line. We decided that for our photo we would all wear our sunglasses so that we could remember being in warm sunny Florida while it's cold &amp; snowy back home.

We had heard that the snow falls on Main Street between 7:00-7:30pm so we walked over to Main Street. It was so beautiful to see the snow coming down, the castle in the background, the shops all decorated for Christmas. Yes of course I got teary-eyed - I'm a sap for stuff like that. We grabbed some ice cream from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. Lee &amp; I also stopped and bought Santa Mickey &amp; Santa Minnie hats that we wore for the rest of the night. I had purchased Savannah's hat from eBay before the trip. It's a child-size Santa hat with a Minnie beanie baby stitched into the cap. It was originally sold in Disneyland (not WDW) so Savannah got LOTS of compliments throughout the evening from characters and cast members who told her they loved her hat. Everyone wanted to know where we had bought it, since it wasn't sold there. Even Fairy Godmother waved to Savannah during the parade later that night and said "I love your hat!"
Here's a picture of Josh &amp; Kelly sporting mine &amp; Lee's hats:



We sat down at the umbrella tables down by the water looking out at the castle and enjoyed our ice cream. After that, we went over to Tomorrowland. The first thing we did was try out Stitch's Great Escape. None of us were overly impressed with this attraction and Savannah didn't like it at all. She loves Stitch but she did not like this ride - she thought it was too dark and too scary (this coming from the kid who loved Dinosaur! Go figure ) After Stitch, Josh stayed with Savannah while Lee &amp; Kelly &amp; I went on Space Mountain. No line. When the ride was over we told the CM we wanted to go again so he let us go straight over to the loading area and we got right back on and rode it a second time. After Space Mountain, we took a ride on TTA. Then it was time for the next showing of Mickey's Twas the Night Before Christmas show at the Galaxy Palace Theater. We thought we were doing the smart thing by going to the show while the first parade was going on. Apparently lots of other people had the same idea because it was standing room only. We stood in the back of the theater behind the last row of seats. It was a cute show. After that, we hopped right on Buzz Lightyear with no wait. Lee &amp; Josh both scored really well. Savannah &amp; I didn't do too well. I think we only ended up with 41,000 points When we got off Buzz, we noticed Wishes was about to start so we walked over to the benches in the smoking area where there was no one around and watched Wishes all by ourselves. It was beautiful, especially the special ending where the whole park is encircled with fireworks - 360 degrees all around. It was amazing!!

Next we walked over to Fantasyland and watched Mickey's Philharmagic. Josh &amp; Kelly had never seen it before and they loved it. We noticed Cinderella &amp; Prince Charming were out signing autographs by the fountain behind the castle but the line was very long so we kept going. We walked back over to Liberty Square and staked out a spot right across from the Liberty Bell to watch the Christmas parade. Lee &amp; Josh went to get our free cookies and hot chocolate and we enjoyed those while waiting for the parade to start. Lee also got some popcorn for me because I love those souvenir buckets it comes in. The Christmas parade was wonderful!!! It was long, too. It took about 45 minutes for the whole parade to pass us. After the parade ended, it was getting late. We took a bathroom break and headed back over toward Splash Mountain and BTMRR. We rode BTMRR with no wait - Savannah loved this ride too. Afterward (par for the course)Savannah wanted to ride again so we ran back around to the ride entrance. The CM was just getting ready to close the ropes but he saw us coming and waited for us. We were the last group to get in the line so we got the last ride of the night on BTMRR!! More Disney pixie dust!

On our way out we caught the last show of the night on the castle forecourt stage. It was really cute with a Christmas theme. It was snowing again on Main Street.


The crowds exiting the park were really large so we decided to stop at Casey's for some famous hot dogs (we never did eat dinner earlier!). We sat outside and enjoyed our hot dogs and watched the snow falling on Main Street and the castle changing colors - I don't think it gets any better than this. Josh &amp; Kelly kept thanking us for inviting them to join us for the party - they had a great time. We headed out and got back to our cars. Finally we made it back to the hotel and fell into bed around 2am. It was a long day but MVMCP was great!

<font color="blue"> The best thing today was </font> MVMCP &amp; meeting Angie and Kathy
<font color="blue"> The worst thing today was </font> Stitch's Great Escape
<font color="blue"> The funniest thing today was </font> Savannah laughing and screaming and having a great time on Test Track
<font color="blue"> Firsts for today: </font> Savannah rode Test Track, we attended MVMCP, ate hot dogs at Casey's
<font color="blue"> The most magical moment today was </font> seeing the snow falling on Main Street with everything all lit up for Christmas. Also, getting the last ride of the night on BTMRR.

<font color="black"> Coming up.....Day Four - Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a pirate's life for me (NOT!) </font>

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates Sharon! Wow, how many times did you guys ride Maelstrom Hurry back with more

[Jillybean]

I love reading the "Savannah-isms." What a sweetheart she is! My favorite line was "That was scary. Can we ride it again?" She is such a spunky little 4-year-old!

Jill

[luvnwdwgal]

What a wonderful trip report!! Love reading about all your Disney magic!! Savannah is a doll!!!

[SharonK0527]

<font color="blue"> Day Four, Wednesday 12/1/04 </font>
<font color="blue"> Part 1 - Pirate Cruise </font>

Even though we got to bed late last night, we still set the alarm for 8:00am. Savannah was scheduled to go on the Pirate Cruise over at the Grand Floridian at 10:00am and had to be checked in around 9:30am. We stayed in bed until the last possible second and rushed over to GF after refilling our mugs with coffee. Lee dropped Savannah &amp; I off at the front entrance while he went to park the car. Luckily we had stayed at GF last year so I knew exactly where to go to get to the Marina. I got Savannah checked in and she got her nametag and a really cute Pirate headband with Mickey ears to wear. She was very crabby and not very excited at all to go on the cruise. I kept trying to tell her how much fun she would have, but she was still whining a lot. They gave all the parents pagers and told them that if there was a problem they would page us. When the boat pulled away with all the kids on it, Savannah did not look happy. In fact, she looked like a prisoner being sent off to jail Lee &amp; I had a bad feeling about it so we stayed there by the Marina and sat on some benches. Around 10:20am, a woman and her young daughter rushed past us and went up to the Marina counter. Apparently the little girl was signed up for the pirate cruise but the boat had left 10 minutes ago. I could tell from the woman's body language that she was very upset and was arguing with the people at the counter. Since the boat had just left, the people working there agreed to put the little girl on another boat and ferry her out to where the pirate boat was. I thought that was very nice of them, considering the woman was over 30 minutes late. As the boat that dropped her off returned to the dock we could see the woman who had been with the kids on the pirate boat sitting in back and it looked like she had a child sitting next to her. We knew instantly without even seeing her that it was Savannah. Lee had even predicted that when the boat returned he bet Savannah would be on it and he was right. As they got off the boat the woman saw us standing there and said "Thank God, we were just about to page you. Savannah has been crying since the moment we left the dock." When I asked Savannah what was wrong she said she doesn't like pirates and all the other kids making loud pirate noises scared her. I think it also had to do with her not getting enough sleep last night. Since Savannah didn't get to participate in the cruise I asked the woman about getting a refund. She said she would check into it and sure enough when I checked the bank a few days later, they had refunded my money. I thought that was very nice of them to do that.

We walked back over to the GF lobby and took some pictures of the grounds, Christmas decorations, and the giant gingerbread house.


Christmas Tree in Lobby

Gingerbread House


We had made plans last night to meet Josh &amp; Kelly at MGM once the pirate cruise was over. We called them on their cell phone and they had decided to sleep in this morning after the late night last night. They were just getting up and about and probably wouldn't be at MGM until around 11:30am. Since we had some time to kill we decided to jump on the monorail and head over to Magic Kingdom for an hour. The first place we went was Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe on the way to Frontierland. Kelly had noticed a Christmas ornament there last night that she wanted to buy but the line was very long and she didn't want to wait. I went in the shop and got the ornament for her. It was a white Christmas ball with Mickey &amp; Minnie dressed like a bride &amp; groom standing on top. Since Josh &amp; Kelly were on their honeymoon, I had their ornament personalized with their names and their wedding date. While we waited for the personalizing to get done, we took Savannah on Splash Mountain and BTMRR again. We walked back over and picked up the ornament and headed back on the monorail to GF to get our car and drive over to MGM.

<font color="black"> Coming up......Day Four, Part Two - "But Mommy, I AM tall enough!" </font>

[poohsgirl]

<font color="purple"> Sharon! Loving your trip report. It was so much fun meeting all of you! Afterwards my mom commented on how nice everyone was and surprised that we'd only known eachother from the internet! Meeting up with fellow passporters is like meeting up with old friends!

If anyone hasn't figured it out yet, Savannah is quite the daredevil!

Lee - I owe you a scare! You got me good!

Sorry Savannah was spooked by the Pirates Cruise.Great that you got a refund!

Loved the pics of my favorite resort, GF!

Can't wait to more!
</font>