Our Christmas with the Mouse - part 3 added! About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update Stephanie Hurry back with more

[Colexis Mom]

Drat, double post Sorry!

[IdahoDisneyMom]

Part 3 of trip report - we're here!!

cast of characters
me - Stephanie (32 yrs)
DH - Keven (36 yrs)
DD - Valerie (5 yrs)

Saturday Dec. 18, 2004
So... the plane lands at 6:15am and we've gotten a few hours of sleep. Not enough to warrant much energy, but seeing as we've just arrived at WDW we find some deep down inside!! Our luggage came out quickly, and we were off to find the Enterprise shuttle. We always rent a car on trips. I know, we can use the free Disney shuttle buses, but we like having the freedom to come and go as we please, when we please. As it turned out, because the weather was so bad towards the end of our trip we were REALLY glad that we weren't standing out there with everyone else waiting for the buses!!

We see the sign that points outside the terminal for off-sight car rental agencies. Just as we go outside I see an Enterprise shuttle drive by. I flagged him down and he pulled over for us. Wow, so far our luck is golden!! He said that normally he wouldn't be making a stop there, but he didn't want us to have to wait longer for another bus. Thank you Mr.Bus Driver Man!! Did you know that the Enterprise sight is OFF sight?! I mean we drove about 5 miles away from the airport into nowhere land to get there! But once we did we easily got our car and loaded up. Last big trip we took we put Valerie's booster seat in it's BIG carrier and checked it at the airport. Well, when prepping for this trip Keven and I realized that the extra booster we had in the garage actually comes apart easily and can be stored in a suitcase! So that's what we did, and how easy it was to get it set up for her!

Now we have luggage, the car, and we're on our way!! In California we don't have many toll roads. As a matter of fact you have to go out of your way to get to the only one I can think of! So how weird is it for us to hit 2 on our way to WDW from the rental car agency. And do you want to hear the "funny" part? Because Enterprise was 5 miles in the other direction, we had to pay 2 tolls before we even got back to the airport, where we had started from!!

There's our exit, and we're almost there!! Yeah!! Don't you like WDW's own highway system? It takes a little getting used to, but then it's actually pretty easy to manuever and guide yourself through. We got to POR just fine, and wandered in at about 7am, right on schedule! The nice lady behind the desk didn't have Alligator Bayou bldgs 14 or 15 available now, but she did have bldg 38. It's a little ways back there, but nice and quiet she says. We'll take it I say, because we have time to clean up, which I'd really like to do before we go out for the day.

Ok, so bldg 38 is WAY out there. It's nice and quiet, because you're WAY out there! In retrospect we only felt like we had to walk a ways because we were so tired at the end of each day. I realized 1/2 way through the trip that it was a smoking optional bldg. We got a non-smoking room, and there were no traces of smoke to be smelt, so I didn't even notice it. If you have to take a bldg that far out, try for 36 or 37 though, as their parking lot was usually empty and ours was a little busier since it was at the corner. But one of the most magical moments of the day was when Valerie was walking behind us on our way to our bldg and said, "Mommy, this is beautiful." Sniff, sniff

We got cleaned up and headed off to AK!! It was relatively easy to find, and we got there right before they opened. Once again, life going according to schedule! Valerie and Keven went to admire the Christmas tree as I began my ritual of being the bag-check mom. Then off to Guest Relations to activate our APs. The very nice lady there said that their computers were down, so she wrote the date and her initials on our vouchers and told us we could come back later and get them officially activated. Sure enough, they worked just fine, however had we wanted to use Fast Pass that day we would have been out of luck. Turns out we didn't need it, as it was a really light day at the park. We stopped at the Oasis to hear a really nice man tell us about tarantulas.
I could have walked on, but Keven and Valerie were interested, and I honestly felt bad for the CM, as everyone was running past him instead of stopping to learn something. Ok, we got our daily dose of tarantula vs. spider, can we go play now?! Off to Kilimanjaro Safari!! We basically walked right on, which was really nice. Valerie really enjoyed this "ride" if you can call it just that. The story got a little lost on us, as the CM seemed to blend what we were actually seeing with the fictional story. I forgot that Little Red was fictional, and wondered why he was desperately seeking this little elephant when there was a whole herd to our left that went unmentioned. We did see A LOT of animals though, as it was still early in the morning.

After KS we headed over to the Tree of Life, and once again walked right in. We all enjoyed "It's Tough to Be a Bug" even when the bugs sprayed us! Valerie LOVES all the Pixar movies, so it was fun for her.

Next we needed nourishment. It was about 11am (8am PT!) and we were hungry! I thought that I had read that Flame Tree had PB&J. Well, they don't. The only restaurant that has PB&J at AK is Pizzafari. Can anyone explain this to me? The only restaurant with a child's sandwich also serves pizza, which most children will eat. Ok, calming down.
Keven suggested we go somewhere where we could sit and relax, and enjoy our meal after our busy night and morning. Off to Rainforest we go. We had a nice "quiet" meal. We were seated by the waterfall and gorillas which acted up every 10 minutes or so, but Valerie enjoyed it, and it actually did feel really good to sit down. Keven and I both had burgers (really tasty!) and Valerie had chicken dinosaurs. Everyone ate well, and was happy!!

Afterwards Keven suggested that we go find out about activating our APs, as we were right near the front gate. We ran into Robin Hood and Friar Tuck, so Valerie got her first character photo! Then we went over to a VERY nice older gentleman who helped us activate our passes. He saw that we were from California, and said that he had just visited Disneyland for the first time. We agreed that it is a classic.

Now back into the park! We headed for Festival of the Lion King, and it was great! Truly something that should not be missed. We just made it in before it started, a trend that would continue throughout our trip! Valerie loved it, but began to get limp on my lap. Keven said that while it was a great show, if the seats had had backs to them he would have crashed! So after the FOLK ended we headed out. We stopped at the cart on the way out to buy Valerie an autograph book (my scrapbooking mom attempt to do something clever never materialized) and a pair of sunglasses (this is a continuing trend for us - we always forget her glasses, so she ends up getting new ones).

Back to the hotel it was, and we all crashed. Valerie slept for about 2-3 hours, and Keven and I got cleaned up.

Up next time...our suprise visitor, a restaurant review, and the meanest woman at WDW!

Hope you're enjoying reading!!
Stephanie

[Tara O'Hara]

Stephanie, I am very much enjoying reading, indeed!! I am glad you got there safe and sound and it sounds like you guys got a lot in in the time that you were at AK! Can't wait to read more now that you guys are all refreshed!!

[luvnwdwgal]

Keep it coming Stephanie!!!

[Colexis Mom]

A great update Stephanie Hurry back with more