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Cast of Characters - Joanie (DW-age 40), Bob (DH-age 50), Marie (DD-age 18)
Staying: Polynesian Lagoon View Concierge 12/23-26/2002
Boardwalk Villas-Preferred View Studio 12/26-30/2002
Well, after counting down the days since we returned home from our June 2002 trip, the day had finally
come. Everything had pretty much fallen into place except DH had a cold and as of the 22nd, my sinus's
were starting a full blown attack. At least I managed to get about 3 hours sleep before my alarm went
off at 3:00 a.m. Fully armed with all types of clothing, mickey santa hats for all of us and sudafed,
motrin, and throat lossenges, we headed to the Lehigh Valley Int'l Airport at 4:10 a.m. for our 7:00 a.m.
flight with Southeastern Airlines. The price for these tickets was too good to pass up - direct, non-stop
flight for $153.00 each roundtrip. We were checked in with minimal waiting and the flight took off on time.
We actually found the pilots and attendants to be much more friendly that on any other airline we've ever
taken. We were notified when we checked our luggage to make sure it was unlocked, because if they needed
to hand check it and it was locked they would have to break the locks. We were not aware of this and were
grateful that they mentioned it since DH had his locked. After an uneventful and on time flight we landed
at the Sanford Orlando airport at 9:20 am and were met by our Tiffany Town Car Drive. I had looked up the
distance for Sanford Orlando and found it to be approx. 18 miles farther away than the Orlando Int'l Airport -
so extra driving time was 25 minutes. The cost for Tiffany from Sanford was $160.00 round trip less the $8.00
MFL discount (thanks Binnie) made it $152.00. We tipped the driver upon arrival at the Polynesian and immediately
were told our room number out at the valet parking stand and that they would take us to put our luggage in our room and then we could go down to concierge to check in. We ended up with room 3504 - hooray - this was the room we were in when we got married at Sunset Point in 1999. The temps were warm, so we changed into t-shirts but did leave our pants on rather than shorts. We walked over through the main building, checking out the decorations and the shops and took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom. We still had our premium annual passes that we had purchased in June - had already pd. a $725.00 deposit on the room (booked at full rack rate of $725.00/night and then applied code CKO when it came out bringing it down to $279.00/night) so we only owed approx. another $221.00. This trip was fairly dollarless so far.
Upon arriving at the Magic Kingdom, we were able to tell that crowds were definitely higher than at this time last Christmas but who cares - WE WERE IN DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!!!
Arrived at Main Street in the Magic Kingdom around 12:15 p.m. and made our way through the shops and over to the Christmas Shop in Liberty Square. We decided to try to check
in early for our 1:00 p.m. ressie at the Liberty Tree Tavern and were seated in roughly 10 minutes. We were seated at a table right near the main lobby and it was very loud.
The meal was good, but we were all feeling pretty lousy at this point and DD went back to the room to catch a nap. DH and I decided to fight the sinus's/cold's as long as
possible so we trekked over to the Haunted Mansion to get a fast pass and over to Pirates while we waited. The sign said 25 minute wait - not too bad - so we got in line.
Everyone always says if there are 2 lines - go left - this was majorly magical - people must have thought this side was closed - we walked right down and really only had a
5 minute wait. When we got off we decided to head back over to the Haunted Mansion to use our fast pass and had our 2nd sprinkling of pixie dust in less than 20 minutes -
they were just blocking off the passage route for the 2:00 p.m. parade and we ended up with a front row view right at the beginning - it's a shame you never have the video
camera in your hand when you need it. The parade was great - there were some things added that weren't there last year. When the parade was over it we followed right behind
it until we went over to ride the Haunted Mansion. By now, we were feeling really lousy and were totally exhausted, so we went back to the room to check on DD and take a nap
ourselves. Slept for a few hours and then got ready for our 7:00 p.m. PS at 'Ohana's. We were seated in approx. 10 minutes and had a window seat. This would have been even
more perfect if the fireworks would have been scheduled to go off while we were eating. DD totally loved the salad dressing and will wait for Maggie to send us the recipe. We went down to the 1st floor lobby of the main building and listened to a hand bell choir for several minutes. I could have listened to them for several hours, but the troops were ready to head to DTD for some shopping. Out we went to catch the bus. Walked thru some shops, but again we were feeling not too great. I had been so anxious to get a Mr. Potatoe Head, but it was crowded and I just didn't feel well enough to search for what I wanted. We stopped at ghirardelli's for DD and I to get ice cream. It was good, but was a little too sweet and neither one of us could finish it. We would have been better off sharing one. After not buying even one thing, we headed back to the Poly - and sweet sleep.
Ahhh, and we managed to take a pedometer with us this trip so I will list the miles we walked at the end of each day. As the trip goes on, I was amazed at how far we actually walked. Miles for day 1 - 5.1 miles.
Merry Christmas to All!!!!! Our original plans were to get up early, go to MK and get a hand stamp to assure our entry later,
go to the Contemporary for 9:00 a.m. church and then back to the MK to meet Chris & Jess Johnson. Well, the only thing we
managed to accomplish that morning was being in the MK by 10:00 a.m. to meet Chris & Jess. We were all still under the weather
- DH was really coughing - so we instituted Plan B. Slept until 8:15 a.m., got up and dressed. Retrieved the bag of goodies
left on our door by "Santa" the night before - assorted chocolates- and headed down to the lounge for breakfast - DH and I
adorned in our Santa Mickey hats and DD's in a bag to put on when approriate (at 18 - a good hair day is always important).
We got to the MK around 9:15 a.m. and headed back to Buzz Lightyear then back to Casey's Corner to meet Chris & Jess. These
two are wonderful people and it was nice to finally meet them in person. Jess told me Chris new Bob, but he had no idea who he
was. As soon as he saw him, he recognized him immediately. He was a former member of a local high school band where DH instructs
the drumline. This turned out to be a convenient place to meet because DD decided she was hungry, so right into Casey's we went
for a hotdog and a coke for her. After taking some pictures, the 5 of us headed to the Carousel of Progress and then the Tomorrowland
Transit Authority. After that it was time to split - crowds were high and it was rather cool and Jess needed to get something warmer.
After some Merry Christmas wishes we split and headed our own separate ways. We walked through Toontown, hopped the train to
Frontierland and went to see the Country Bears. We now stopped at the pay phones and I called home to wish a coworker and her
little boy a merry christmas only to find out we had already gotten 8 inches of snow, it was still coming down and her power
had gone out. This was the only damper on my day. I love snow and had been waiting for a white christmas for over 30 years. Well, if
I had to miss, where else better to be but WDW. Off to the castle for our 1:00 p.m. ressie. We had a seat right by the window facing the
carousel. We finished eating just as the 2:00 p.m. parade was finishing and we were going back for a nap. It took 1 hour to get from the castle
to the entrance - a total "people"jam. I though this was incredible. It really amazed me that no one got out of hand or did any pushing or
shoving. We actually stood in one spot without moving for 30 minutes. I just people watched and made the best of it. Even DD handled it
pretty well. We went back to the room to relax and watched a Christmas movie on tv called "A Holiday to Remember" starring Randy Travis &
Connie Selleca. I love this movie. Got dressed and took the boat to the MK and then a boat to Ft. Wilderness for our 7:15 Hoop De Doo.
We were seated right by the piano and banjo player. They actually did more holiday songs this year. Last year we went on Christmas day and they did the regular show and music, so this one was a little more special. We left a few minutes early since I booked the carriage ride for 9:00 p.m. This was so incredible and woth the $30.00. Our horse's name was Cameron. This ride was 30 minutes long and went thru various places in the campground. I was totally amazed at some of the decorations on the campers. Some of these people have more on their campers than I do in my house and I've been known to get carried away. We too the boat back to the MK and then the boat from there back to the Poly. It was a magical Christmas even though we were under the weather. DH stopped in the shop for some cough medicine and then we called it a night - boo hoo - our last one in the Poly.
Total miles for today 5.63
Part One, Part Two, Part Three
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