Walker - August 2005 • WDW Trip Reports

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Walker - August 2005

me (37), DH (38), DS (13), DS (10)

August 27 to September 3, 2005

Port Orleans French Quarter (with FREE Dining Plan)

This trip was a surprise birthday trip for the kids. We all celebrate birthdays between 9/1 and 10/1, so what better place to celebrate than WDW!! We told the kids Friday morning, 8/26. They were very excited to be going again. We spent the day getting ready and packing. Our flight was at 6 am Saturday morning, so it was a 4 am wake-up call for the kids and out the door by 4:30 am. Magical Express tags on our bags and we’re all set!
Leaving from Allentown, PA. Airport check-in and flight were without problems. We landed on time and Magical Express worked perfectly!! I would not hesitate to use ME again in the future!
We arrived at PO – French Quarter by noon, no wait to check-in and our room was ready early! We are off to a great start!! I love this resort, the size is perfect, short walks to everything, theming is great, room was clean. We loved it!!! We got settled and we were off to have lunch and explore. Return to our room around 3 pm and our luggage was there! Did a little unpacking before heading out.
We were not planning on visiting any parks this day, but we did catch a bus to the MK and we rode the monorail loops….resort loop and Epcot loop. We then took the boat to the Wilderness Lodge to check it out and see the geyser. We grabbed some dinner at the food court and then headed over to Poly to watch the Water Parade from the beach.
Back to the resort to get some sleep. Tomorrow is MK.

Wake-up call from Stitch and Mickey at 7:00 am. Breakfast in the room and out to the bus stop by 8 am to catch our bus to MK for 9 am opening. We were through the turnstiles shortly before 9 am and had to stop to wait before entering under the railroad stations. We couldn’t see much of the Welcome show, but planned to catch it on our next morning there. At 9 am we stopped to have a PhotoPass photo taken and then on to Space Mountain. We grabbed a FastPass and then rode. We love this ride. Then onto Buzz and then to Fantasyland to ride whatever we could without much of a wait. The lines were very short all week long. I don’t think we waiting more than 15 minutes for anything all week. We then headed to Frontierland for Big Thunder Mountain …. Later in the week we rode this at night…so much more fun at night!! About 11 am we started walking toward Crystal Palace for our 11:30 am lunch ADR. This was our first time at CP and we loved it and loved meeting Pooh and the gang. We used our FP for Space Mtn. and then planned to head out to AK to see the parade.
After arriving at AK we walked around a little and looked for a good place to watch the parade. We heard some thunder and hoped for the best. We met King Louie and the kids played the drums. We grabbed some popcorn and found our place…it was now raining. Soon we saw CM pulling up the tape they put down for the parade, confirmed the parade was cancelled and headed to the Lion King show so our trip there was not a complete waste! The Lion King show was wonderful….do not miss this!! After the show the park was closed. Our plan was for DTD, so we set out to get there. We went and did some shopping and had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express.
We took the boat back to POFQ. The kids went swimming and then off to bed. Tomorrow is EMH at Epcot.

EMH at Epcot, wake-up at 6:00 am, breakfast in the room and out for the bus by 7 am. Our plan is for Soarin’ and Test Track first. We went through the turnstiles and waited at the rope at the base of Spaceship Earth. CMs from Soarin’, Test Track and Mission Space all arrive to escort all of us to our choices. We arrive at Soarin’, grab FP and then ride with very little wait. This is an amazing ride (we end up riding 5 times during the week). Then it is off to Test Track…my oldest son’s Favorite Ride! We check out a few other things, had lunch and then head over to World Showcase. The boys are planning to get stamps and autographs from each country, they used autograph books instead of buying Passports. We started in Canada and got all the way to Italy. Then it was time to get to MK for our ADR at 5:15 pm in the Castle. We were a little early, but it was cool and we could sit down. Cinderella showed up in the lobby and my youngest got her autograph and his picture taken. My oldest wanted no part of it!! But then Cinderella came over to talk to him, he was not thrilled. Mary Poppins also showed up. They both stayed for quite a long time and made sure they met with everyone. Dinner was great as usual. We did a few things and then found our spot to watch Spectromagic. This is a great parade, one of my favorites. After the parade we made our way down Main Street to watch Wishes from near the Flag Pole. This is such a beautiful fireworks show!
Back to the resort and the kids took a quick swim and then off to dreamland. Tomorrow is EMH at MGM.

Again a wake-up call at 6:00 am and breakfast in the room. Out for the bus by 7 am. Off to MGM. The mission: Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror for DH, DS, DS. I will pass on these! My job was to get a FP for the new stunt show. That is a long walk. It was so quiet and there was no one around, I felt like I should not be walking back there. Many of the Osborne lights were already up. I would love to see that (they didn’t do it in 2003 when we were there). The boys all rode RnR twice and ToT once. I browsed through some shops and just enjoyed people watching. We also did the Indy show, One Mans Dream, Beauty and the Beast and visited Mickey, then the new Stunt Show…very good show, my boys loved it.
Then we were off to Epcot for our ADR at LeCellier at 6:10 pm. The kids got the rest of the stamps/autographs they needed before dinner. Dinner took quite awhile, both before and during. The service was quite slow, but we really loved dinner. The pretzel breadstick are fabulous…and everything else too. We walked around and looked for a place to watch Illuminations. After the fireworks we took our time leaving and went back for a swim.
Tomorrow is AK.

Wake-up call at 7 am, out for the bus by 8 am. Heading to AK. Today ended up being a “Magical Moment” day. Through the turnstiles and up to the rope. Then a CM approached us and asked if we would be interested in helping out today. Of course the answer was YES! Under the rope we go and he explains that the truck with the characters would be arriving soon and that we would just have to carry the rope to lead the crowd through Africa. No problem…how cool is that, it couldn’t get any better….or could it?? More on THAT another day!
We were taken through the FP entrance and got to ride on the first safari of the day in the front seat. We received a Magical Moment Certificate.
DH, DS, and DS rode Kali River Rapids several times. We saw Tarzan Rocks. Lunch at Pizzafari. Safari again.
We left to get to MGM for the parade and dinner at H & V at 6 pm and Fantasmic. By the time we got to MGM it was raining. I figured the parade would be cancelled, so we went into the Animation Tour, we skipped most of it and headed straight to the drawing part. The kids drew a picture of Goofy. When we came out I heard music and saw a large crowd…they did the parade in the rain!! We saw a few minutes but had to get to H & V for dinner. We enjoyed dinner. We did not have the Fantasmic Dinner Package, but our server gave us a ticket anyway. Browsed through a few shops and then went to the show. We enjoyed the show. We discussed heading to MK for their EMH (until midnight), we decided to go for it. We had a couple of hours in MK. We were tired but still having a great time.
No swimming tonight, straight to sleep. Tomorrow MK again! (and it is my birthday!)

Wake-up call at 7 am, breakfast in the room. Happy Birthday to me, I’ve got my bday button!! Off to the MK. A very Magical day!!
At MK we watched the Welcome Show this time. I received MANY birthday greetings this day. We repeated many things and a few new things too. While riding Space Mountain, just me and 2 DS, I was greeted with Happy Birthday from the CMs. After riding we were told to go up the “back” way and we could ride again. When we arrived back in line the CM asked my name and had everyone sing Happy Birthday to me. My kids got a real kick out of this.
After a couple of hours it was time for our ADR at Chef Mickey’s at 11:20 am. I let my youngest son wear the bday button for breakfast (this was his favorite place). We told the CM he was celebrating his birthday. He received a placemat (which he could keep), they played a special song and he received a cupcake with candle.
We went back over to the MK. As we entered under the train station my DH was stopped by a CM and he answered some questions. The CM asked if he would be willing to sit in on a focus group meeting (about 1 hour) and he would receive $100 Disney Dollars!! Don’t need to ask us twice! More shopping!! More Magic!! His time to meet was not until 6 pm. We had a great afternoon, saw the parade, many more rides. DH left us and the boys did the race cars, we then went to the People Mover and Buzz. More fun on Buzz….the ride stopped, we kept shooting…suddenly my score went up, 100,000….200,000…WOW this is great….I reached 999,999…Galactic Hero!!! Told my youngest DS…he too reached 999,999!! My oldest DS was in the car in front of us, he couldn’t reach the target, he was very bummed…we had to ride again. He did hit it a few times, but the key was that the ride had STOPPED! DH was done by this time and we waited for him at a small souvenir stand outside Buzz. My youngest DS was telling the CM our good luck on Buzz. He whispered the 3 special targets to my oldest, but we never got back on the ride for him to try.
We had dinner and then watched Wishes and then back to the resort for a swim. Tomorrow is our last full day, we are off to Epcot for opening time.

Wake-up call again about 7 am, breakfast in the room, out to bus stop by 8 am. Off to Epcot. Today is our last full day….need to do things we have not done and things we need to do again, and still had some shopping to do at DTD.
We are at Epcot for opening, thru the turnstiles and as we are putting our tickets away, a CM approaches us to ask if we would be the Family of the Day!! Of course we said YES!! Remember when I said it couldn’t get better than opening AK…..well it CAN!! This was such a Magical Moment, especially for my boys!
First the CM took us around the crowd and under Spaceship Earth. He explained that we would have to wave and smile…we can do that…we joked that the boys had practiced their “princess wave” like in The Princess Diaries. The CM took us to a Test Track Car that was parked on the other side of Spaceship Early…this is too cool. My oldest DS agrees that his brother can sit up front with the CM, the three of us sit in back. The CM explains that we will wait for the Character Bus to pull up front at the rope line, then we will drive around the other way…crowd on our left and bus on our right. Then we were off to Test Track, we would be the first to ride (without seeing the pre-show), before all the crowds. We actually got to ride twice since there was still no line when we arrived back. After Test Track 4 CMs escorted us to the General Motors VIP lounge upstairs. We could have a drink (soda/coffee) and watch the Test Track ride. Then to the other side of the lounge and we had a beautiful view of Epcot. We received a Ride Photo from the ride too. When we were done, we were escorted to Mission Space to see the control room and ride. We were not planning on riding Mission Space, but decided that since we were getting special treatment we would give it a try. We did not care for this ride, but we can say we rode. The CM gave us several FPs to return, but we did not use them. No one was available to escort us to Soarin, so they just gave us a FP to ride.
This was truly a Magical Moment …and then some…for us.
At Epcot we also rode Spaceship Earth, saw the France movie, sent emails from Mission Space and Innoventions. We did the Disney Visa Cardholder’s Meet n Greet. We saw Mickey and Pluto and got a cute picture of the boys (a 5 x 7) for Free. If you do this, make sure you have your credit card with you, they ask to see it.
We didn’t have an ADR this day, but we made on at Tony’s Town Square at the MK. We then headed back to AK to try to see the parade again. Here is where the magic stopped….ANOTHER storm hit just in time to cancel the parade…it was just not meant to be. I love this parade and was very sad we did not get to see it. But never fear the Magic lives at WDW!! About 3:30 pm (parade is scheduled for 4 pm), we found a great bench to watch and DH went to get ice cream for us. 2 CMs were walking past and I asked what are the chances that the parade would go? He said they are always hopeful, but it didn’t look good. I explained that it was our 3rd time trying to see the parade and that it was our last day, we were going home tomorrow. My oldest DS was wearing a birthday button and the CM wished him a Happy Birthday and he went on his way. DH came back with the ice cream and we enjoyed…thunder and lightning, but no rain yet. About 3:50 pm the CM was back and gave us the bad news and he apologized, but had an alternative for us (since it was my son’s birthday). He was the manager at the Lion King Show and asked if we had seen it, yes we had, but would love to see it again. He said to go to one of the EXITS and he would radio over to let them know we were on our way. Great!! It was starting to rain. We arrived at an exit and told the CM who we were, he let us in and another CM lead us to VIP seats. The theater was filling up and a CM approached and asked my oldest son his name and wished him a Happy Birthday, then asked him to follow him. He took my DS out to the middle of the floor and then to each section to introduce him and say it was his 14th birthday. At the first section they were joined by a man in a wheelchair celebrating his 86th birthday. They continued to each section and then out to the middle and the entire audience sang Happy Birthday!! It was great! We really enjoyed this show.
It was really raining when the show was over and the park was closed. On to MK for dinner at Tony’s, this was completely spur of the moment, we were very pleased. Then we had to get to DTD to finish our shopping. I wanted to go back to MK to catch Wishes at 10 pm, but my family didn’t agree with me, so we went back to the resort. I did packing and they went swimming.
Tomorrow is packing, checking out, AK for breakfast and time to go home.

We didn’t have to get up too early today, but I was up and packing. We were down in the lobby to get our boarding passes and check our luggage by 9 pm. We then did a quick check of the room and took our carry-on backs to luggage storage and we were off to AK by 9:30 am. We had an ADR for 10:30 am at Donald’s Breakfast. This breakfast was for my oldest DS for his birthday (he loves Donald). He received a birthday card signed by Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Pluto. Everyone in the restaurant sang to him. We enjoyed this breakfast very much. After breakfast we had some time so we went to see the gorillas. We headed back to the resort, we still had some time before ME was picking us up (at 2:00 pm) so we took a walk over to Riverside, looked thru their shop and cooled off in the lobby. Then walked back, got pizzas to go, picked up our luggage and waited for the bus. The bus was right on time and we made 2 other stops on our way to the airport. We were at the airport by 3 pm. We ate our pizzas and then waited for our flight.
No problems with our flight. We arrived home to Pennsylvania about 10:30 pm. It was actually chilly outside when we got home…it felt good after melting in the heat and humidity all week.

We had a wonderful trip and it was very magical. We love WDW and wish we could go more often. It will be quite some time before we get back. There are some other places we would like to vacation in the next couple of years.
Some advice…..to make the most of each day…get up early and get to the parks before they open, it really does make a difference. If it is your birthday, get a birthday button.

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