Bonnie's Disney World Christmas Present: Day Two! About This Page:

[DisneyDoll]

<font color="red"> Pre-Trip


Travelers: Me, Bonnie (age 29)-5th trip to WDW
Amir –my stepson (age 15)-1st trip to WDW

Dates: Dec 14-19, 2004

Resort- Port Orleans French Quarter

Occassion- Do we need one? Ok here’s 3: Amir’s first trip, Christmas, because I deserve it!



I thought I’d start a pre-trip report. We leave in 3 days and I can hardly believe it. Even though I’ve been fortunate to go to WDW already this year, I didn’t think this next trip would ever get off the ground.

It has seen so many incarnations I hardly remember the original plans. First it was a solo for me, then both of my step kids were going, then just one, then solo again and then back to the one DSS. I’ve changed resort reservations 4 times and flights 3 times.
It had seemed that we had finally settled for the last week in August so Amir would not have to miss any school. But at the end of June his mother called us and told us Amir had gotten a bad report card...a really bad report card! The thing is, the kid is super smart. But he's lazy as all get out. His mom can't get him up in the morning and then he is late to class and he wasn't doing the homework either. He would have to go to summer school. His mom and dad both decided that his poor grades could not be rewarded with Disney World and the trip would have to be postponed until he showed improvement. I agreed with them but was disappointed none the less.
Now we set the plans fo Nov 8. Amir did indeed pull up his bad grades and showed a lot of improvement. So everything seemed perfectly set for Nov... until I fell down the cement garage stairs in my bare feet and not to gross you out but I broke my toe in 2 place and the little toe literally ripped away from my foot. This happened at the end of August. When it happened I thought there would be plently of time for it to heal before November. Little did I know how long it would take! It still isn't 100%. My right foot gets very achey and I have to wear a shoe size one size larger or the shoe bothers me. I thought it through and decided I really needed another month or I would be very uncomfortable and since we would lose no money to make the changes it made sense to do it.
Then it dawned on me how perfect Christmas time would be at WDW!!! And now with only a few days left there will be(hopefully) be no more changes. Everything happens for a reason...even the bad stuff.


The last time I visited WDW in December was with my Dad in 1995. Almost 10 years ago. It was a great trip and all the decorations were beautiful and I’m very excited to be going again during the Christmas season. I hope never to have such a dry spell again and feel that two trips this year is justified by making up for lost time!

And even though I did go last February with my DH, I didn’t really have that great a time. My DH just isn’t into Disney and so we missed a lot of things I had wanted to do, see, eat, try, etc. because he either thought it was “baby stuff” or “stupid.” I love my husband but I will never travel to Disney with him again. I really thought the World would have worked it’s magic over on him but I guess some people are just impervious. Not that he disliked everything; he loved the Wilderness Lodge and just wanted to hang out there all day!

Now, his son, Amir, is a different story. He loves Disney. We have gone to Disneyland many times together and he just “gets it.” His brother, who is 12 is like his Dad. He likes to go to DL but he isn't really into "it".
Amir is into pin trading (Mickey's mostly) and hopes to beef up his collection this trip. Me too! I don't trade though, I hoard!

We are looking forward to MVMCP , PS’s at CP, LTT, RFC among others , a Passporter Meet , my first Spectromagic, seeing the decorations, DisneyQuest, boat rides to DTD, and lots of other things.



<font color="green"> Our Plans:
Dec 14: 6:30 am flight to MCO
arrive at 3:30pm
TTC to POFQ

We are leaving this evening open. We might do MVMCP (if there is still tickets left) or maybe DTD depending on how tired we are.

Dec 15
AM: Epcot
Lunch: Le Cellier
Rest Break
PM: MK for Spectromagic with Chez

Dec 16:
AM: MK
Breakfast at CP
Lunch at WCC
Rest Break
PM: Epcot for Illuminations

Dec 17: MGM
Lunch: Beaches and Cream
Rest break
PM: Back to MGM for Osborne Lights and Fantasmic

Dec 18:
AM: AK
Lunch: Rain Forest Cafe
Rest Break
PM: MK
Dinner: Liberty Tree Tavern

Dec 19:
Am: Morning open, maybe shop at DTD or hit anything that we might have missed.

PM: Flight back home </font>

That's are basic itinerary. We have other stuff planned but I won't give it away. You will have to wait and find out how it all turned out when I get home. It will be interesting to see how much we stick to the plan, we both are pretty good at sticking to intinerary's. My DH blew my last trips plans out the window.

OK...I think that will wrap it up for now. C'ya real soon!

To be continued….</font>

[Colexis Mom]

Looks like a great plan Bonnie Hopefully we'll run into you!

[Annabel]

Sounds like a great plan What a shame your hubby doesn't "get" Disney I hope you have a wonderful time with your stepson and who knows, we might bump into you.

Annabel

[LoveWL]

Sounds like a great plan and it sure sounds like you deserve a magical time. Hope you and Amir have a wonderful trip! Can't wait to read about it when you get back.

[luvnwdwgal]

Looks like you're going to have a great trip!! Congrats to Amir for bringing his grades up!!

[DisneyDoll]

<font color="red"> ***Note about pictures: I bought a digital camera earlier this month and just got around to installing the software, unfortunately I keep getting an error message about the pathway acces being denied, whatever that means. I'm going to download them to CD instead and thenn try to post that way. In the meantime I thought I'd get strarted with the TR.


Travelers:

Bonnie (Me)age 29
Amir (DSS) age 15

Dates: 12/14/2004-12/19/2004
Resort: POFQ
Day 1 Dec 14, 2004



Amir’s (my dss) Mom dropped him off at my house in the afternoon before we left. We basically hung out, I packed, watched “Elf” (my new fave holiday movie, BTW). I finally slept around midnight. The alarm woke me up at 3am and I got everyone else up with coffee.

My DH drove us to the airport and we took off from the house around 4:20am after a minor hunt for my DH’s car keys, which we couldn’t find. I finally found them in a dresser drawer! After that bit of panic we set off. The fog driving into to town was as thick as pea soup. I was worried the flight would be delayed. You could not see more than a few feet in front of you and we had to drive very slowly.

The SWA ticket check-in wasn’t even open when we arrived but it was a good thing we were early because there was already a huge line. They were all military guys. I spoke to a few of them and they told me they would be shipping out to Iraq in the next week or so. One young guy was joking that he would be a war veteran at the age of 18. I felt bad they had to go right before Christmas. We wished them a safe return home.

I was hoping for an “A” boarding pass as we would be changing planes in ABQ with only a 30 min window and I wanted a seat up front so we could get off quickly. We got “A!” Then it was off through security, which was a breeze; no wait at all. We grabbed a couple of danish’s and settled down to await the flight. There was no fog delay either!

This would be Amir’s first airplane trip and he was very excited. I told him not to get to worked up about it; the thrill would wear off about 10 min into the flight and be replaced by extreme boredom. At least that’s the way it is for me. I don’t fly that well, it tends to upset my stomach just a bit and the claustrophobia of the plane unsettles my nerves slightly too. I was probably more nervous then he was about flying and I’ve done it loads of times.

Amir loved the takeoffs and landings…you know the part where the plane picks up speed on the runway just before lift off? I love that part too, it’s the liftoff part I don’t like; my tummy just lurches…blah! But as I predicted, he got bored PDQ!

Anyways…everything went fine in ABQ, it is a small airport so our gate was very close. We had time to pick up a couple of Quizno’s subs to take along. I have always avoided Quizno’s because I hate those commercial with the mutilated singing rats. But I have to admit the sandwiches were really good, way better then Subway.


So, we arrived at MCO 20 min early!!!! Our Tiffany driver met us at baggage claim just a few minutes after we arrived. We collected our bags and headed off!!! Now, along the way I heard this really loud crack. I though maybe a rock had hit the windshield but as soon as we passed the next tollbooth on the Beeline, our driver (I can’t remember his name) said we had a flat tire! We pulled off to the side of the road and he had to call for another car to come and get us. He didn’t have a spare tire either. Now I ask you, if you were a driver that transported passengers all day long wouldn’t you carry a spare tire?? For pity sake! How could you not have a spare? So we had to wait about 20 min for the new driver to show up, then transferred our luggage and ourselves to the new car and set off again.

We arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter about 15 min later and this made it about 5:00pm. I really felt I should have been offered a discount for the tire trouble. After all, I chose TTC because I did not want to wait for Mears. And I ended up waiting anyways. Both drivers were very nice and apologetic about it, but like they say money talks and #$%^@! walks! I think I may write to TTC and let them know that really, the service was not satisfactory. I used my PP coupon though and that was no trouble.

We left our stuff with Bell Services and went inside for our first look at POFQ. I must say it was very lovely. I was sort of under the notion that the Mardi Gras theme might be a bit tacky and over the top. But I found it to be very tasteful and elegant. The four Christmas trees in the lobby were decorated in purple, gold and green Mardi Gras colors.
There were plenty of Christmas lights laced through the latticework balconies and the whole scene just made you go “ahhhh.”

There was not one soul in the check-in line so we breezed through that. I was so thrilled to get an upgrade to a river view room too!!! I have never not gotten an upgrade at Disney. I never pay for a “view” or “preferred” room; I just pay for a standard and hope for the best and so far it has worked out nicely.

We made our way to building 2 and the whole resort was eerily deserted. There was just not even one person to be seen. I enjoyed the quiet emptiness though. How often do you get to feel that the whole resort belongs just to you? This would all drastically change by the weekend so I enjoyed the quiet peace while it lasted.

The refurbed rooms are beautiful. Loved the fridge too. And though we didn’t buy any food to store in the room, we did on several occasions bring back leftovers for later and it was nice to have a fridge for that.

We had left the evening unplanned so that we could decide what we wanted to do that first night based on how tired we were. Well neither of us was tired at all! So the consensus was for MVMCP!!!




So, we went downstairs to purchase MVMCP tix’s, when we realized we were starvin’ like Marvin. We grabbed dinner at the food court. Now, I will say that the food court’s giant heads were a bit tacky and they sort of creeped me out too.

I had a chicken Caesar salad, which was huge and quite good and Amir had a hamburger and fries. That fridge was already coming in handy-dandy; I put the rest of my salad in it for later.

We picked up our tix’s and headed to the MK. We had a lively bus ride over. The driver was very chatty over the intercom with everyone and someone got the whole busload to sing a couple Christmas carols! Lots of holiday spirit here!

Ahhhh..Main St, USA at Christmas time! Is there any better sight in the whole world? I haven’t found it! The snow was just starting to fall, the smell of cookies hung thick in the air and the carolers’ holiday songs floated along the street to make the perfect setting! But we had no time for this; Space Mountain was calling!!! We have been sorely deprived of Space Mtn. Ours back here at Disneyland, as many of you know, has been closed for a really, really, really long time. After our Space fix, we jumped on Buzz. A first for both of us. Why is it that teenagers can kick booty on stuff like this? He had like 200,000 points and I remember I was in the second category. It was hard. I guess I need more practice.

We tried Stitch next. Oh Stitch, poor, poor Stitch! I feel so bad for him that he has been made to take part in such a bad attraction. I won’t give away any spoilers, I’ll just say that this stinks, they need to improve it, and it has potential to be such a cool, fun ride. But the way it is now… Yeesh!

We strolled along the back of Tomorrowland and Amir wanted to do Indy Speedway. Now, have I mentioned that the weather was so bloody cold that it felt like we were at Disney Arctic? The temps were in the 30’s but the wind chill put it in the 20’s. We are from Southern California and I for one do not do cold!!! I’m really cold all the time anyways, it could be 80 out and I’ll be in a sweater so this was just torture for me, and Amir wants to do Indy Speedway! A cold, outdoor ride. Great. We queued up though and I goofed up when the CM asked how many, I forgot I should have said 1 so I could have driven my own car but I said 2 so I was a passenger while Amir drove. This felt more like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride! He couldn’t keep that car straight on the track for 2 seconds, we were bouncing all over the place and he crashed into the rear of the car in front of us several times, on purpose I think! It was totally hilarious!

Have I told you I was cold? Well, I was frozen to the bone when we got off so we popped into Cosmic Ray’s to warm up a bit. I made a quick call home to hubby.
Then out we went again to brave the winter weather. I’ll tell you, that snow on Main St was very appropriate and fit right in.

I spotted my first characters by the Tea Cups. I’m on a continuous mission to have my picture taken with the characters. I got the Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit as my first two this trip! Amir won’t take a picture with the characters, I guess it’s a teenage guy thing; you know… it’s not cool.

I made Amir do Pooh next, that’s a not cool teenage guy thing either, but tough beans! I wanted to do this to see how it stacked up to our version at Disneyland. This was way, way better. Ours is like Pooh light.

I was cold, or didn’t I tell you? So I wanted to get in somewhere and Mickey’s Philharmagic was perfect for that. Once inside though, a CM announced that the fireworks was starting and if we stayed for the show we would miss the fireworks. We decided to see the fireworks. So we went back outside and took a seat in Fantasyland near the carrousel. There was no way to get around the castle to the front.

The wind at this point started to really blow and I really just couldn’t stand another second of it. I suppose all of you snow bunnies think I’m a baby! A woman sitting next to me said I should go get some of that free cocoa. They were serving it at the Columbia Harbor House, so we walked along over there. I took 3 cups and two cookies. Amir had like 5 cups and 4 cookies. The cookies were big and really good too! The cocoa hit the spot.

Outside Wishes had just started so we went out to watch. It’s so cool how the fireworks completely surrounds you. Loved it. Too cold and tired to do anything else, we headed back to the hotel. We had planned to stay for the late parade but there was no way I could sit on the cement curb for another hour in this crazy cold.

Back at the resort we popped in the food court again. Amir wanted cheesecake (he’s a cheesecake junkie) and I wanted to try the beignets. We took them back to the room. The beignets were OK, too much powdered sugar though. They should have been filled with something like Bavarian cream or chocolate. The cheesecake was yummy.

We watched the WDW channels for a while and then nodded out. It was like 1am! BTW …I adore Disney’s pillows! They are the best pillows ever and now that I’m home, mine feel so uncomfortable and I keep tossing and turning.

Next time: Question: How many times can person ride Test Track? Answer: A lot!


</font>

[jakenjess]

Great start to your report! Sorry it was so cold at MVMCP. A couple days ago here in Maine it was below zero, but today is balmy, in the 40s! Looking forward to hearing more!

[dsnytina]

Terrific report of the holidays at WDW!
Thank you for taking the time to write this up for us!
Tina

[luvnwdwgal]

Sounds like you're having a great, although chilly, time!!!

[GATechGal]

Bonnie, you needed to buy a sweatshirt! And beignets are ment to be empty. That's part of the fun. Hopefully you didn't try and keep any over night. They turn into rocks. I think you can actually kill folks with a day old beignet.

[Tara O'Hara]

You guys sound like you are having a fabulous time despite the cold, Bonnie! Can't wait to hear more!

[bsblady01]

sounds like you had a great trip

[Colexis Mom]

Great start Bonnie! I agree, it was COLD!!! It's funny, we're used to running into the attractions to get into the air conditioning, and this time we were doing it go get some heat

Can't wait for more

[DisneyDoll]

[ QUOTE ]
Bonnie, you needed to buy a sweatshirt! And beignets are ment to be empty. That's part of the fun. Hopefully you didn't try and keep any over night. They turn into rocks. I think you can actually kill folks with a day old beignet.

[/ QUOTE ]

I kept looking for a really warm sweater that I liked but for some reason, I didn't like any that they had.

I know the beignets are supposed to be empty. I didn't save any...despite my feeling for them, I ate them all anyways!

[CarolRose]

Great report so far! You're right, it was COLD! I think that was the night we bought a blanket in "Mexico" to tuck around the kids so we could stay for Illuminations! Brrrr!