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Trip Planning > Walt Disney World > Trip Reports > NAME- MONTH YEAR
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Owensby Family - March 2005 Cast: Me (Elizabeth) 25, Matt, hubby of 5 ½ years, 30. Daughter Hannah who is almost 3 (stayed home with Grandparents)Matt is a 5th grade Teacher here in Nashville and a part time youth minister and puts up with my WDW obsession, but is developing a mild case of Disney fever. I am a Stay at home Mom, Vacation Planner, Retainer of Useless Knowledge and Lover of all things Disney. Days 0 & 1: Sunday March 20/Monday March 21st Sundays are always busy days for us as my husband Matt is a part time youth minister at our church so this day was certainly no exception. We were out the door for church at 8:30am and back home by 11:30am to have lunch at our house with Matt's parents who were keeping Hannah for us while we were vacationing. Around 2pm we headed out for Atlanta to visit with some friends and have supper. We arrived 6:30 Eastern time and headed for WDW around 11pm. I think we hit the Florida line around 4am. We hit some traffic coming in on Monday morning on the turnpike, but all in all it was uneventful as we arrived around 7:30am at Pop. We headed for the check-in desk and had a really sweet CM who was still earning his ears. It was his 3rd day to be without someone right over him. He did a great job, but I think I made him a little nervous as I was so excited and answered almost every question he had for us before he could finish asking. He told us we would have a king room/nonsmoking, but that of course it wasn't ready. Matt and I were really looking forward to just getting in the room and taking a nap and changing clothes, but I knew it probably wasn't likely at 7am. So we were given our Key and the number to call for our room number and off we went for the food court. We split a breakfast wrap and shared some apple juice from our refillable mug. It was nice to finally be there. We called home to let everyone know we were there and to talk to Hannah. Matt didn't need to change clothes, but I sure felt gross, so off I went to the Pop Women's Restroom to change. I know I looked ridiculous hauling stuff in there. Once I got back to our van, I found Matt asleep, bless his heart he drove the whole way and we had been up 24 hours at that point. I asked him where he wanted to head to and he decided on Downtown Disney. We were pleased to find the parking lot virtually empty as well as the stores. We headed for World of Disney first and just browsed, knowing we would be back later in the week for big shopping. We headed for World of Memories and purchased postcards to send back home to Hannah and some of her friends. Of course I didn't have my addresses with me, so I couldn't get the cool postmark on them. I know we wandered around some more and finally decided to call on our room again, after giving all our info again over the phone they finally found our room number. By this point we were major zombies and the thought came over me that they had somehow given our room away. We headed to Earl of Sandwich to pick up some lunch to go (Beef and Bleu for me and Cannonballs for Matt). We knew we were in the 50's building, but unsure where exactly to park for the best route to our room. Of course we headed the wrong way, but quickly figured it out. We were in room 1367, which is on the 3rd floor. We had a pool view, which we really didn't care too much about, but none the less was nice. We had our lunch and then crashed. We only slept 2 hours so as not to totally mess with our sleep schedule for that evening. We had a PS at O'hana for 6:00pm so we decided to head out around 4:00. This was our first ever PS and first ever trip to O'hana, so to say we were excited was an understatement. Usually we just wing it, but since finding this group over a year ago, I am a lot more knowledgeable about all things Disney! We caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then hopped on the resort monorail for the Polynesian. We arrived right at 5:30 to check in and were given our buzzer/flashy light coaster thing. We wandered around the gift shops upstairs and were just about to head downstairs to see what was down there and then our buzzer went off. So we went past a huge line and were welcomed by a sweet girl who showed us around and explained everything to us. We had a great seat and were impressed with how fast everything was brought out. It was all amazing! I think Matt asked for steak 3 times! Which of course they brought out to him. He kept going on and on about how wonderful this meal was and that he would buy me anything I wanted since I brought him there! I should have taken him up on it, but I knew it was something said in the heat of the moment as I was the one keeping up with all the bills and budget!! We decided that from now on we will have dinner here for our first and last dinners of every WDW vacation. We left full, but not that overly gross full. I guess when you have more proteins than carbs it really does make a difference. We decided to head to the MK as that really makes me feel like I'm at Disney. It was raining, but we weren't going to let that stop us. We headed down Main Street as a lot of people were leaving. I think it was around 7:30 when we arrived. We couldn't decide on what we wanted to do as we usually arrive in the morning, so this was a whole different ballgame for us. We made our way to Tomorrowland and the rain seemed to be letting up. I was thrilled to find Carousel of Progress open as I haven't been on this since I was 7 and it has been closed every time Matt and I have been there. We then headed for the TTA, the moving sidewalk going up was stopped, so we had to walk up, which wouldn't have been a big deal, but it was very slick from all the rainy people. I'm such a dork, because this is one of my favorite rides! I love looking out over Tomorrowland, riding through Space Mtn, and having a great view of Cinderella Castle. Once off, we headed towards Buzz to get a fast pass, and then on to Fantasyland. I was determined to ride things that I haven't been on since I was a little girl this trip so we headed to the Teacups. I think we waited 5 minutes and then hopped on. We had the best time just being silly and enjoying being together. We then headed to Small World; I was so anxious to ride this since the refurbishment. It was a 5 minute wait and then we were off. It all looked so clean and fresh. Matt commented on the fact that you could actually see through the water to the floor. From there we headed to Mickey's Philharmagic. We were both so amazed at this show and knew we would be back to see it before the end of the trip. As we headed out of there, we noticed tons of people standing around, I wasn't thinking anything of it and then looked at my watch and realized wishes was about to start and we were in a horrible place. I generally don't like fireworks just because of the report, ( we actually run a fireworks tent during the summer, so I kind of get sick of fireworks!). We stayed where we were and they were awesome even if we were in a bad place. They were so loud, but amazing. After knowing what I do about fireworks and seeing Wishes I know WDW puts a ton of money into that show every night. And here's a piece of useless knowledge for you, Did you know that Blue is hardest firework color to make? We did decide that next time we would see it, it would be in a better place. I think we were pretty wiped out after that so we headed down Main Street and perused the shops as I was on a hunt for a new charm for my bracelet. I couldn't decide on one, so we headed out and back to Pop. We were so worn out from traveling that we fell asleep as soon as we got in the room. Day 2 - March 22 We were planning on hitting Epcot early, but neither of us could get up when the alarm went off or when Mickey called, so we didn't really get out the door until 10am. We took the bus from Pop to Epcot and headed straight for Mission Space to get a Fastpass. We have missed so much at Epcot in our past trips so we knew we wanted to spend the whole day here. We headed for Universe of Energy, a new ride/show for us. We both enjoyed it and once it was done, we headed towards World Showcase for lunch. We stopped at the Harry Ramsden's Counter Service place in the UK. We both ordered the Fish and Chips with a drink and headed for the patio area. We had a great view of World Showcase and some entertainment provided by hungry squirrels and birds. Once we finished our yummy lunch, we headed out towards the bridge, where we stopped to make a few phone calls. Matt's grandmother had gone in the hospital 2 days before we left so we called to check on her and found out she had a tumor and would be operated on before we left. So Hannah, who was staying with Matt's parents, would get passed off to Matt's brother and his wife so that his parents could be at the hospital. After our calls home, we were heading towards the American Adventure when we saw the Character Caravan. So I quickly hopped in line to meet Minnie. She was so cute and after we took the pictures Matt noticed that Minnie and I were standing the same way. They started honking the horn for all the characters to get back on the bus, poor Rafiki, he must have been burning up in his costume because he was the first one on! It was in the 80's that day and I came back with a sunburn. We were hoping to catch the American Adventure show, mostly because I have been listening to Tourguide Mike Radio and have had the theme song stuck in my head for months. We noticed that the show didn't start until 1:30 so Matt decided to head out for some Fastpasses for Test Track. I stayed behind in the air conditioning. I started talking to a nice couple from west Tennessee (we're from Middle TN) when my phone started ringing. It was Matt, Test Track had no more Fast passes for the day so he asked if there was anything else I wanted so I said check Spaceship Earth for FastPasses. Well either they don't have them or he couldn't find them, because when he finally got back, he was empty handed and burning up. I apologized and we went back into the air conditioning as the show was about to start. Matt really enjoyed this show, as he is a social studies teacher and talks about this stuff everyday. I was glad we went and glad to get that song out of my head! From there we wandered back over towards Future World. I really wanted to ride Figment since I hadn't done it since I was 7. We walked over and realized there was a small group of people standing around with Flight Attendant uniforms. I immediately knew it was for Soarin', so we jumped in line. We started talking to a CM who was from East TN and talking about the ride. He was telling us that the entrance was not anywhere near complete and that they had no idea what it would look like. We were then lead through some backstage areas, and then on thru the queue which is really nice. It's kind of a mix of a lot of airports I've been in. And some gorgeous photos with some neat facts on one wall. We were both so excited to be riding this that I thought we would both bust. Once we finally entered the ride, we were amazed. I have never been to Disneyland, so I have no idea if it's just like the one in CA Adventure, but wow!! This was an amazing ride. I don't want to ruin it if you don't know about it, all I can say is make sure you go on this ride!! We then headed for Figment and I have to say I was disappointed. I love Figment and have various items from when I was little with Figment on them and I remember the original ride. After Figment, we headed towards Mission Space. We both liked this, but I don't really think we will have to ride this again. We were disappointed that we couldn't ride Test Track as we haven't been on it since our honeymoon in 1999. The line was unbelievable and we had to get back to Pop to get ready for our 6:10 PS at California Grill. Once back at Pop, I realized just how sunburnt I was on my arms and face. We both got cleaned up and dressed and headed out for our seating around 5:30, which was later than we planned. We got in line for the bus to MK so we could hop on the resort line for the Contemporary. I think we had the slowest bus driver in the world. Once we finally arrived, we headed for the monorail, which kept stopping on the track. I was concerned we were going to have to do an emergency evacuation and I knew it wouldn't be very ladylike in my skirt. We finally get moving again, once I realize that we were slowing down because of other monorails either ahead of us or beside us I was okay. We arrive at 6:30 for our 6:10 ps. We were seated right away at a table overlooking a wing of the Contemporary. I was disappointed to discover that it really wasn't a dressy place. When I made the Ps's in December, I was told no park attire. Well that `s all we saw. Once we got the menu, there really wasn't much on there that we were crazy for, but I decided on a Grilled Pork Dish with Goat Cheese and mushrooms and Matt had the Pork Pot Roast. Both were okay, but I think we were still on our high from O'hana the night before. Our server was not very attentive since we weren't ordering from the wine list or having dessert. I was very sad with our service here and we won't be going back, but it was nice to try once. Once our meal was over, we headed out to the observation deck for some pictures of the castle. In the past couple of years, heights have really started to bother Matt so he literally stayed on the deck for 10 seconds. I enjoyed it, but it was windy so I exited quickly as well. We then got back on the monorail not really sure of where we wanted to go so somehow we landed at the TTC, we then took the ferry over to the MK so we could hop back on a bus for Pop. We decided on dessert from the Food Court to take back to our room. I had the Lunar Cheescake and Matt had the Tie-dye cheescake. We then crashed in the bed after deciding on MGM for the next day. Our pedometer only worked on this day and we walked 9.2 miles…..no wonder we were wiped out. Day 3 - March 23 Once again we wanted to get up early, but we just couldn't so we finally got to MGM at 10am. We headed straight for the Rock N Roller Coaster to get Fast passes. It was drizzling a little this morning so it was a sea of clear mickey ponchos. We then went to the Disney Animation area. The last time we were here, they were still working on Lilo and Stitch. It was sad to see all the offices gone. We got in line to meet the Incredibles and take pictures. We then headed out for the Playhouse Disney Area to look for gifts for Hannah. We decided to call and check on her and see if she could help us decide on a stuffed Stanley or Bear. She of course said both! We headed out towards the ABC Commissary and came across JoJo and Goliath, so I of course had to have my pictures made with them. They were too cute and they both gave me kisses. We saw Donald and Daisy, but their line was way too long so we snapped a picture of them and headed out for lunch. We realized the new Stunt show was having a soft opening, but we decided to come back after lunch. We saw the Monsters Inc. meet and greet area and decided to come back for that as well. We went in to the Commissary, which was virtually empty and both ordered cheeseburgers. We waited for Mike and sully and had our pictures made with them before heading off for Star Tours to get a fast pass. We went to Muppets sat on the end of the aisle, which I do not recommend for optimum 3-D viewing. But it was nice to get out quickly. I was a little letdown by the Muppet Store, as we are both big Muppet fans and didn't even see any of the items that are on the Disney direct site. We headed for Star Tours, which after riding Mission Space just doesn't compare now. Then we were off for the Rock `n' Roller Coaster with our fast passes we got earlier in the day. The line was super long for standby and the fast pass line was slowly moving. Once inside we were so excited, we've not done this ride for whatever reason so this was something we both were looking forward to. Once inside, the were going to put us in the first car, which I quickly declined and we were placed in the 3rd or 4th , which was somehow safer to me! I had been wearing a hat all day and certainly didn't want to show off my lovely hairdo to anyone so I kept it on while we were riding. Well, I tried!! As soon as we blasted off, it blew straight back. I was glad it was through my ponytail or it would have been gone. The picture was hilarious since I was grabbing my hat and my mouth was wide open and Matt had no idea I was struggling to keep his hat on my head. After the ride we were both pretty tired so we headed back to Pop for a snack and a nap since the MK was open until 3am tonight. I couldn't sleep, but instead took a shower, called my mom, totaled up receipts, etc… We stayed around Pop for a while before getting supper at the food court, I had the Philly Cheesesteak Wrap and Matt had a Cheeseburger. We then headed out to the MK, there were only 5 of us on the bus. We arrived in time to see Wishes from a much better viewpoint by the flagpole. What an amazing show. We videoed most of it but forgot to buy the soundtrack, so now I will have to call Disney for that one. I was bound and determined to get our bracelets for the extra magic hours so I headed over to City Hall. The girl looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked if they had them at City Hall. She then handed me a paper that told me where to find them and sent me out into the tons of people with ankle injuring strollers who were leaving the park. We finally got around the crowds and headed towards Adventureland so that we could get a Dole Whip. I was so excited to finally get one of these. I had the Float and Matt had the Cup of softserve. I decided that this is my perfect dessert, not heavy, but refreshing. We headed out towards Pirates and Matt got a phone call. We stood just outside Aladdin's Magic Carpets while he talked. Once we were finished, we went right into Pirates. We seemed to go a lot slower than I remembered in this ride. We even stopped a few times which really creeped me out since I had read rumors of a worker named George who supposedly died in there. I was glad to get out of there as it's amazing how your mind plays tricks on you. Once we exited, we walked right into Spectromagic Parade, so we were stuck for a while. We then e headed to Big Thunder Mtn to get Fastpasses. Then off to Liberty Square to get our bracelets. We stopped to make a phonecall home to check on Hannah and Matt's grandmother. Both were doing fine so we were off to see Philharmagic again. We both loved this and know that when we bring Hannah with us next time she will love it too. We were on our way to Tomorrowland and stopped for a Sprite before hopping on Buzz, which is one of Matt's favorites. Somehow, I hit a 100000 every time we rode this so he was determined to beat me. We made faces for our picture and decided to ride again. Neither of us did very good but Matt decided to pick his nose for our picture and I was looking at him with a shocked look, which was of course "Zapped by Zurg." It's funny how quick they have to be to catch all the obscene things people do for their ride photos. We decided that we had enough Buzz and went for the Pooh ride. I don't really know why we rode this, maybe it was for Steve. :o) We headed for Big Thunder and the guy told us we couldn't use our fast passes, so we got in line. I have never been in line this long for this ride and I had no idea how much it snaked around. Just when you thought you had to be getting close to the ride, you ended up in another room filled with more tired, sad people who were starting to look more and more like cattle being led through the gates. We have never ridden this at night and it was awesome. This is usually the first ride we do every trip so we were a little out of order, but I highly recommend a night time ride on the wildest ride in the west. By this time it was nearing 2am and we were just exhausted, so we headed down Main Street for the bus. It was good to get in the bed. Not sure on our mileage for the day as the pedometer said we only walked .2 miles and I know that's not the case! Day 4 - March 24 Today was a slow moving day, we didn't get up until 10:00. We wanted one more Earl of Sandwich meal so we headed out for Downtown Disney in our own van. I had the Beef and Bleu with Earls Grey Lemonade and Matt had the Cannonballs with a Coke. This is such a good place to eat that's really affordable and delicious. We then went for Once upon a toy and World of Disney to do some shopping. World of Disney was offering a free print with a $75 purchase and we knew we would easily spend that much, so we each took a basket and off we went. Matt and I both picked out T-Shirts for us and Mickey and Minnie Coffee mugs for his parents, a frame for his brother and wife, and then Matt surprised me with a frame that is wooden and says "I Can still remember the magic of our first visit to Walt Disney World. When we got there, we rode a real Monorail to the Magic Kingdom where we first met Mickey and the gang. I can still smell the smells of popcorn and cotton candy as we walked down Main Street, USA. And there it was at the end of the street—Cinderella Castle." It was so sweet and he also picked out a charm for my bracelet. We got a few more little things and Buzz Lightyear Diecast Attraction Vehicle for Matt to put on his desk at school. We headed over to Ghiradelli for sundaes, which we should have split since our eyes were certainly bigger than our stomachs. I left over half of mine but Matt somehow managed to eat all of his without me having to roll him out of there. We walked around a little more and drove back to Pop. We needed a new picture of us in front of the Castle and some ears for a friend back home so we got on the bus to the MK. I then told Matt we had to ride the train as we had never done that before. We used to have a theme park here in Nashville called Opryland and the train was one of my favorite parts since they had one named Elizabeth. So I was convinced we would ride this, It was a nice ride with a light breeze. We got off at Main Street and headed for the Monorail. We asked to ride up front which was a first for us. I videoed the trip, but our driver was not talkative at all. I tried to initiate conversation, but he just gave super short answers so I decided to give up on the conversation and enjoy the ride. We then took the monorail to Epcot and headed for SpaceShip Earth. I think this would be a great place to take a nap if the speakers weren't right in your ears. I do appreciate how they turn you backwards to go down, it's so steep I know I would not like it going down the right way. We then headed out to Innoventions so Matt could play video games. I sat there for a bit and then decided to head to Mousegears for some more shopping. I came away empty handed as all I was really looking for was an Incredibles Tshirt for Matt. The Cm at World of Disney told me that they can't keep them in stock and aren't sure if they will get anymore. Matt finally caught up with me and we wanted to head towards World Showcase for supper. We never could decide on what we wanted so somehow we ended up waiting for the boat to take us to the Boardwalk. We waited a while and I had a Brain burp and remembered that we could just walk there. So we did. We usually eat at ESPN Club at least once every trip, but it was so crowded with everyone watching the NCAA tourney games, we decided to skip it this trip. We wandered aimlessly down the Boardwalk and decided to leave. So we headed for the bus stop in front of the Beach Club and a bus showed up from Downtown Disney. From there we got on the bus to Pop. We stood next to a dad with 3 small kids, double stroller and numerous large packages. We started talking to them and found out that his wife was still shopping at Downtown and that he was an alumni of Illinois, who were playing that night. We told him he was getting major bonus points for missing out on the game and traveling with the 3 little kids. We helped them off the bus and headed for the food court. Matt had the Philly Cheesesteak wrap and I had a Chicken Penne Pasta. We sat in the lounge area so that we could watch the game. We headed back to the room to pack up as we would be leaving the next morning. Day 5 & 6 - March 25 & 26 We were up and at `em around 8:30am we packed up everything and headed towards the van which we couldn't remember where we parked. After some searching we finally came across it. We were headed for the Outlets. We stopped at Carter's, where we bought lots of stuff for Hannah, we hit the Disney Outlet and spent a whopping .21!! Matt found a postcard that was sort of like a blueprint of the castle for .19. We headed towards Nike to get a new swoosh shirt for Matt and then we were off. We had McDonald's Gift Certificates from some surveys I had done so we both ordered happy meals hoping to get 2 different Pixar toys, but we got two Dory's. Hannah was still thrilled with them. We were on our way towards Atlanta to stay with some friends for the night. And of course stopped at more outlet malls on the way home! There's definitely a pattern here. :o) We had a great trip. Matt is convinced that this is our last trip to WDW without Hannah for a while. I of course think like the rest of you and am always planning another trip for just down the road. I think we will head back in November for our anniversary, but will probably take Hannah as well as Matt's parents with us. I am convinced that I will find a great deal on airfare so that we won't have to drive again. But you know road trips usually bring about great conversation and this was no exception. It was great to get away and have some Matt and Elizabeth time again, but we missed Hannah terribly. We enjoyed Pop Century because it was new, but it was crowded and we would rather stay at Caribbean Beach again next time, or better yet Animal Kingdom Lodge! I would go back during spring break no question. I think if you go in knowing that lots of people are going to be there and you might have to wait for things, you will still have a good time. We never waited more than 15 minutes for anything, except for the bus. :o) I am and always will be a Disney nerd. I am so glad to have found this group over a year ago. I have made wonderful friends and learned so much about so many things. I vow to never return with my refillable pop mug, stop in the middle of mainstreet to look at a map, or call Spaceship Earth "the big golf ball." Thanks for reading this, it will certainly be a neat reminder of our trip. 
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