RocklandRVers Christmas: Read About 12/20 w/Chezp&Statelady01 About This Page:

[RocklandRVers]

Introduction:

The Campers:
Me: Age 47 8th trip to Disney (once was Disneyland at age 7)
DW: Age 44 7th trip to Disney (3 times with me pre-child)
DS: Age 14 4th trip to Disney
Shamrock: Our lucky Jack Russell Terrier born in Ireland 7 years ago and delivered by Santa Christmas 1997. 4th trip to Disney.

We began planning for both our 2004 Disney vacations (June/July & December) as soon as we returned from our December 2003 trip. In 4 trips, each one seems to be more magical than the previous one and December 2004 was no exception. Thanks to some new friends we finally met in person after “talking” on the Passporter boards for 2 years it was a very special trip indeed. I want to dedicate this trip report to one magical lady: chezp. She was so gracious to share her good fortune in getting an Illuminations cruise we wanted so badly with us. We also loved meeting her husband, Mark “The Candyman” aptly nicknamed by my DW after he shared his bag of heavenly English chocolates with us. Not to be left out, we also enjoyed meeting Statelady01 and her hubby Kevan who joined us for the boat ride of our lives. More on this later.

Saturday, December 18th

The Quest Begins:

Finally the day has arrived. We debate on leaving right after work on Friday night December 17th, but decide its best to leave early after a good night’s sleep. Good night’s sleep? No way. All of us are tossing and turning in anticipation of another fun family vacation.

We are up at 3:00 am and after the usual morning routines and last minute packing, we are on the road by 5:00 am. This is our first trip with our fully loaded enclosed cargo trailer which includes our GEM Electric car, DS’s bike and lots of holiday decorations. I am somewhat apprehensive having never towed such a large load that far before and particularly through the heavily traveled I-95 corridor from NYC to Richmond, VA where traffic patterns change minute by minute and construction delays seem inevitable. To our delight, though, the RV performed well and towed the load without incident except for the loss of about 1 mpg. Not bad considering.

Traffic throughout Saturday was light to moderate and we made great time. We voted to stop a bit earlier than we had in June and opted to spend the night in Florence, SC in a “pet friendly” Motel 6 since we had the RV so full of extra clothes not knowing if we would encounter all hot weather or cold. We were in no mood to shuffle things around to make up our bunks at a campground and the no frills Motel 6 cost about the same as a campsite anyway. Fortunately we had a Cracker Barrel right next door and enjoyed a nice meal before relaxing enough really get a good sleep, which I needed badly.

[RocklandRVers]

Sunday, December 19th

We Arrive Safe and Sound:

We are up again and hit the road before 6:00 am. We make great time as we have the road to ourselves, practically.

Its hard to explain how our spirits are lifted as the outside temperature gauge shows the temperatures rising with every mile we continue down south toward Orlando. It was 29 degrees when we left home. As we did last December, we see it hit the 60s Sunday afternoon as we head over the border past the Florida welcome center.

As we near Orlando on I-4 we saw lots of evidence of the damage done during last summer’s hurricanes that hit the area. One trailer park still had trailers with trees and debris crushing them. Blue tarps dotted roofs as did lots of obvious patchwork of mismatching shingles on many buildings.

We arrived at FtW’s Drive In Check In at about 2:00. We were welcomed by our security CM who joked that we had been one of the fortunate guests to have had their bribes Disney to allow us in. We saw that all the aisles were opened. He suggested we get into aisle 5 as it was moving a bit faster at the moment. He did remark that all but 13 sites were booked and that they expected to check in over 500 campsites today! WOW! That explained why the extra parking lot was filled with RVs who must have been waiting for cancellations or their sites to be readied.

Finally our turn came after a long wait and to our amazement we got our favorite sight 1918! I had faxed my request 4 days in advance as usual. Tells me it still works despite what we had read that room assigners would not accept faxes.

The plan for today was to unload the GEM car and get the RV backed in and hooked up. I called Alamo to get the shuttle. It was due to stop at 3:30. That gave us about 10 minutes so DS and I took the GEM down to the outpost while DW made up the bunks and other stuff needed for setting up camp. Just as we parked next to the other golf carts, the familiar bright blue Alamo shuttle pulled up. DS ran to have the driver wait as I made my way over the hill.

The Alamo counter at DCCC had a short wait and in no time we had our minivan. DS drove the GEM back to our site. He gets a big kick out of driving and being a grownup. Back at the site we find DW has taken a walk with the dog and DS and I decide that a drive around the campground is in order. DS rides his bike while I drive the GEM. Just as we are ready to leave, DW returns and joins me for the tour.

The first thing we are hit with are the number of trees that seem to have fallen during the rough hurricane season as well as some obvious damage to buildings. The outpost bus stop was being rebuilt from the ground up. There were lots of tree stumps near the cabin pool where trees must have fallen. One bus stop at the end of that loop road was boarded up and benches moved across the road. All in all it seemed pretty much how we had left it in early July.

At the marina, we were glad to see they had expanded the golf cart parking area. That was something that was much needed. We had skipped lunch and were hungry as it was nearing 5:30. Pioneer Hall’s golf cart area was filled with carts for the 5:00 HDDR show. We got right into Trails End without a wait. We really enjoy this best bargain on Disney property and had a great meal.

After dinner we headed back to the site to walk the dog and grab some blankets for the campfire show and movie followed by our Wishes cruise that had been rescheduled to head out at 10:15 an hour later than originally set. When we arrived we had a message from Disney recreation regarding our cruise. I called them back and they wanted us to know that the cruise would go off as scheduled but that the temperature at 11:00 would be in the 30s. No problem for us. We had heavy coats, gloves and our blankets.

We watched Sundy’s return at the campfire show. We learned that she was due to leave Florida the day after the first hurricane hit and had not worked since mid-August. She is still a great performer and we love her enthusiasm! The movie was Toy Story 2. We watched maybe a half hour of it and decided to go back to the site to rest the 2 hours before the cruise. DS and DW had napped most of the drive down and were not nearly as tired as I so they understood I needed a quick nap. As soon as I snuggled up in the bunk, I drifted off after reminding DS to wake me up no later than 10:00 since we needed to meet the CM at the dock at 10:15. The nap was just what I needed and I felt refreshed. We headed for the marina a bit early and caught the tail end of the Electric Water Pageant. As we found our way to the docks, most people were leaving the beach and marina. We found a couple of seats on the beach and sat down to wait for our CM. It was cool, but not nearly as biting cold as back home or as bad as it had been last December.

Right on schedule a pontoon boat arrived and a CM with a clipboard walked up the gang plank to the marina counter area and looked around. I asked if he was looking for us and he checked his paperwork and confirmed he was. After introductions, we paid Bradley the fee and he gave us a receipt and we were on our way for a night time tour of Bay Lake and Seven Seas Lagoon.

He was very knowledgeable of Disneyiana including Discovery Island and River Country as he took us to our first stop: Wilderness Lodge. I asked about why DI was never developed. He said that Disney had made plans for a resort a few years back, but that an endangered species, the turkey buzzard, had put a stop to that. Florida law forbids development to any area that an endangered species has taken up residence.

As we passed River Country, I asked about its fate. He said he too was saddened by its closing and that he had recently read in a CM newsletter that plans are being developed for a new theme pool for FtW to be placed in that area. On further we stopped momentarily to see WL from the lake. He noted that the architect had built WL to look like a large bear. Sure enough the large triangular window on the peaks of the lodge formed the eyes while a large rounded window formed the nose and a series of other windows made the mouth. The wings of the building formed his huge paws. Interesting!

On to the Contemporary and we arrive perfectly timed for a monorail to pass overhead. As we passed Bradley told us that the original design of the Contemporary was modular and was intended to allow rooms to be removed and retrofitted with new modules during renovations. Unfortunatley the hotel settled and now the modular rooms are forever locked together. This caused Disney to add on to the hotel to the north and south with 2 story additions. We then passed over one of two water bridges (this is a bridge where watercraft pass over a roadway) on Disney property. This was the entrance to the man made Seven Seas Lagoon.

Trivia question here. Where is the other water bridge located?

We proceeded on to the Polynesian and on to the Grand Floridian before making our way on to a spot directly in line with City Hall and Cinderella’s Castle where Bradley joined other Wishes cruise boats for the show.

What a show! Bradley had warned us that most people who see Wishes from the water are spoiled forever. He was so right! The music was piped into speakers on the boat and we sat in awe as the fireworks lit the sky. Nothing like seeing it from inside the park. You get to see it all from a great perspective.

Lots of trivia stuff shared by Bradley which added to the experience. So I think I will challenge you all with some of it.

Besides the water bridge question, here are a couple of others: What was the very first Disney resort to open? What was the second resort to open and when? What resort has the tallest Christmas tree (it is over 4 stories tall)?

[Tara O'Hara]

Wow! You guys sure sound like you had a nice, smooth ride down and the Wishes Cruise sounds wonderful!!

[ QUOTE ]
Where is the other water bridge located?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure the other is located on the east side of Epcot Resorts Drive just north of the Boardwalk Resort! Our Illuminations cruise guide told us this last year. If that's not right, it's definitely somewhere around there!

[Jennifer2003]

Great start!
Question about the water bridge...when you take the resort bus to the MK (or drive to the CR) you pass under something. I always thought it was a road...is it the water instead? Makes sense now, if it is! LOL
Looking forward to more!

Jennifer

[DrDolphin]

Greart start - one comment - the turkey buzzard is NOT an endangered species, nor is it a threatened species - so it would not have prevented Disney from developing DI.....

[kimdisneynut]

Great Start

Kim

[luvnwdwgal]

What a great cruise you had filled with lots of trivia along the way!!

[Jillybean]

What a great - - and packed - - first day!

Jill

[karmic]

Loving your report! Hurry back with more!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great start! Can't wait for more

[chezp]

What a great start - and sharing the Illuminations cruise with you guys was no problem at all. I can't wait to read more - your report is off to a great start!

[RocklandRVers]

Thanks all! Yes the water bridge between SSL and Bay Lake is what you pass under on the way to the Contemporary. Also correct is the location of the second near the Boardwalk.

Need hints for the other bits of trivia I mention in my initial posts?

[jakenjess]

Great start to your report! The Wishes cruise sounds fabulous! Looking forward to more!

[BritDisFan]

Great start, looking forward to more.

Karen

[MegglesMom]

Great report! The Wishes cruise sounds fantastic!