|
Cast of characters: Steve (DH) Jane (me) Betsey (DD) Bill & Sarah (DS & Daughter in law) Joe (DS) Nita (DD)
Time: Jan.1-5
Resort: Contemporary Resort (booked through Shades of Green)
Day 1-We arrived at the CR resort around 9am. We came from a few days at St. Augustine & Cocoa Beach.
Driving onto the Disney grounds is so exciting--seeing all the billboards and the monorail, etc. We checked
in and our room wasn't ready so we went to take a monorail ride through Epcot. Seeing the park again got us all excited. We then went to the Poly to show our daughter-in-law since this was her first trip. We called the CR while we were there and found out that our rooms were ready. We went back and put our things in the room then the girls all got ready for the Tea at the Grand Floridian while the boys went to ESPN for the Bowl games. (The room at the garden wing was very far from the Tower-if you're staying here request a room closer. I forgot to. We had a very long walk each day. While the CR is nice I would not stay here again unless in the Tower. We like the theming of other resorts better. The Poly and POFQ are still our favorites. Also, the food court did not have many offerings and was not as good as the food court at the moderates or even the All Stars.)
The Tea was awesome as usual. It was very relaxing and we all had a great time. This is something we like to do every trip. The boys had a great time at the ESPN Club. It was very busy and the Bowl games added to the excitement. We met at the Grand Floridian and looked around the resort. (Cell phones really helped out) We saw the life size gingerbread house and the huge Christmas tree. The Grand Floridian is beautiful. We decided to go to the CR and do a little shopping. We had reservations at Chef Mickey's but none of us were hungry yet, so we tried to move them to a later time. They were completely booked so the man at Disney Dining gave us other options. We chose Boma and are we glad we did. It was the best meal we've ever had. Prime Rib, chicken, BBQ ribs, the soups, the sides, the desserts-especially the zebra domes, bread pudding and the coconut tiramisu--we were stuffed! After shopping at the AKL and looking around we went back to the CR and fell into bed.
Day 2- We got up early and headed to the MK for early entry. We rode Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, Astro Orbiter, Pooh and then headed to the rope drop and rode Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, Pirates, & Jungle Cruise. It was very crowded but we were able to get a lot done with early entry. We didn't ride things over and over like in Sept. but we still had a great time. We went shopping on Main Street and then saw Carousel of Progress (one of our favorites). We grabbed fast passes for Buzz Lightyear and then went to the Castle. We shopped and then went to Cinderella's Royal Table for lunch. We split meals here which worked out fine and then we got the banana creme brulee, lemon poppy seed bread with mango ice cream & the chocolate mousse. It was all very good.
After lunch we went to Buzz Lightyear. Steve, Sarah & Nita went back to Splash Mountain to the gift shop while the rest of us went to the resort. We met there and then rested a while and then went to Epcot. At Epcot we rode Spaceship Earth. We then rode the new Journey Into Imagination ride. (It's much better with Figment) We looked around the Image Works and decided we would have a family picture made here. (We decided to do it the next morning)
We went to World Showcase and had dinner at the Boulangerie Patisserie in France (another favorite). We were getting pretty tired and decided to go to the resort for the night. At the last minute Steve, Nita, Betsey and I decided to go back to the MK and ride the Haunted Mansion since we had missed it before. We were going to ride Big Thunder again but the lines for it and Splash were an hour wait. We went back to the resort-very tired.
Day 3-Today we went to Epcot for early entry. The line for Test Track was already long right after opening so we got fast passes. We went to the Image works and had our picture made. It's really nice- the family in front of Cinderella's Castle. My son and daughter in law had the picture laser etched in a crystal. It turned out very nice. Sarah and I went to Honey, I shrunk the audience, while Steve, Nita and Betsey went to the Living Seas. We were supposed to meet Bill & Joseph at the Image works to but couldn't find them. I know my sons pretty well and knew we could find them at the Sunshine Season Food Fair-they love the bakery here. After everyone met up again we rode the Land Boat ride and saw Food Rocks.
We headed to world Showcase and toured Canada, UK, France, Morocco and Japan. We were disappointed to find the Mitsukoshi department store under rehab-this is one of our favorite places to shop. We had lunch at the Teppanyaki Dining Room. It was excellent and the chef was really good. We decided to split up after lunch with Bill and Joe staying at Epcot, Nita and myself going to MGM and Steve, Sarah and Betsey going to the Animal Kingdom.
Nita and I went to our favorite ride-- the Tower of Terror. The new drops are great. Once we went up before we dropped. It was great. We rode TOT and Star Tours.
Steve and Sarah went to It's Tough to be a Bug. (Sarah saw Honey,I Shrunk the Audience and loved it and wanted to see this one. She liked this, too) Betsey went on Primeval Whirl and really had a good time. They met at Dinosaur but the line was too long. They saw the parade and then Betsey went to Kali River Rapids while Steve and Sarah went on the Maharaja Jungle Trek.
Bill and Joseph toured the rest of World Showcase meeting interesting people along the way.
We all met at the resort and had dinner at the food court. Bill and Joseph went to the MK while Steve went to the Outer Rim Lounge. The girls all turned in early. The boys met Steve at the lounge and had a good time together.
Day 4-The girls went to early entry at MGM while the boys slept late. Sarah, Nita and I rode Tower of Terror while Betsey went to Rock & Roller Coaster. After riding TOT we grabbed a fast pass for it and then rode it 2 more times in the stand by line. When the crowd got bigger we used our fast pass. The drops are great. I was bending over to hook the strap of my purse under my foot on the last ride and the cast member didn't put the bar down very far at all. We were practically standing straight up on some of the drops. It was so much fun!
We met the guys on Sunset Boulevard and went to the Millionaire Show. I GOT IN THE HOT SEAT! I was very nervous, but it was a lot of fun. Seeing my family in the audience cheering whenever I answered a question was really fun. When you get in the hot seat something happens to your mind, I think. You start second guessing yourself. I almost missed on the question-Where is the stern on a ship. I thought to myself, "I can't miss this one-My son is in the Navy." I got it right but missed on the 16,000 question. It was a lot of fun.
We left here and toured One Man's Dream the went to Star Tours. After this we went to the 50's Prime Time for lunch. My husband was sent back to wash his hands because he didn't guess the correct color of the soap in the bathroom. The waitress called my boys Skippy and Scooter and Nita was Mary Frances and Sarah was Mary Katherine. The PBJ shakes are great here. We had a great time. Our waitress was named Cindy Rella and Barbara another waitress added to our fun.
After we left the Prime Time we shopped and then Bill and Joe went to the ESPN Club while the rest of us went to Epcot.
We toured America (we saw the show), Italy, Germany, China, Norway(we rode the Maelstrom and had rice cream and a Kringla) and Mexico (we rode the ride).
We met the boys and left and went to Disney Quest. We went on Buzz Lighyear's Astro Blaster (a lot of fun). The boys went off on their own while Sarah, Nita, Betsey, Steve and I went on the Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory Express and then met the boys and rode the Astro Blaster again. It was about 11 o'clock and we were beat so we headed back to the resort.
Day 5-Today we slept late. We packed up and had breakfast at the food court. We checked out and then went to Downtown Disney. We did more shopping. Bill and Sarah surprised my husband with the monorail starter set. He's always wanted this. It was a bright sunny day and pretty warm. It was nice walking around Downtown Disney. I like the Mr. Potato Head sets at Once upon a Toy.
We took a bus to PO FQ to show Bill and Sarah who have never seen it. They really liked it. The little streets and the pool are so cute. This is one of my favorite resorts. We took the bus to Epcot and then the monorail to the Polynesian where we had lunch. We also had desserts. (How can you pass these up when they look so good?) The boys had the Kilauea tortes, Sarah had the cheesecake, Betsey and Nita had the Apple Brown Betty and I had the Ko Ko Puffs.
It was hard to pass up the kiddie kone but I wanted to try something different.
After looking around the Polynesian and tossing our pennies into the fountain( so that we will return) we headed back to the Contemporary to our car and started the drive home. As we were driving along the roads leading out of Disney World we spotted many armadillos. We left Disney World and decided to drive through Celebration. Does anyone else get a wierd feeling driving through this town? Sort of Stepford like.
We had a great trip. It started with visiting relatives in Jacksonville, seeing St. Augustine, Cocoa Beach and then Disney World. It was great being all together and showing it all to our daughter-in-law. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun.
|
