Walt Disney World Journal

Saturday, October 1, 2005 Well, we made our trek to Disney. We left this morning at 6:30 am - got here about 3:00 pm. It was cool traveling through Florida again. It has been years for sure! As soon as I saw the swamp like terrain right outside of Gainesville, memories came pouring back to me from my childhood. We traveled those roads often while my Dad was working for Kayo Oil Company in Hollywood, Florida. We are staying in the Port Orleans: Riverside Resort on Disney property. So far, it is very nice. Dillon and I went hunting alligators this afternoon while Wendy tried to get Abby to take a nap. No alligators and no nap were found! The location is beautiful with images that would remind you of New Orleans. Late this afternoon, we took the boat to Downtown Disney. We spent time in the World of Disney store and the Lego store. It would be real easy to spend too much money in Downtown Disney. We had a lot of fun, but we were all worn out from the trip so we headed back to Riverside and grabbed some dinner at the food court. Wendy and I shared a roasted chicken meal and the kids shared a grilled cheese. Food is going to be expensive this week! Tomorrow, we'll wake up and visit the Animal Kingdom. Dillon and I are going to sneak off at some point and ride the Star Wars ride at Disney Studios. I can't wait to see his expression! Then of course the real fun begins when Grandy, Pappy, Nikki and Tim arrive tomorrow afternoon. Disney refers to visiting here with family as a magical gathering. I really do believe we're going to make memories that will last a lifetime here this week. I can't wait. SIDENOTE: Our room # is 1630 tonight, but it will change tomorrow after we switch rooms with my sis so we can have connecting rooms with Wendy's parents. Also, I'm typing this at about 9:45 and everybody is already down for the count. Wendy, Dillon and Abby are so awesome! God has blessed me beyond my wildest dreams. Nite, nite.

Sunday, October 2, 2005 What a day! We woke up this morning and headed off to the Animal Kingdom. The first thing we did when we got there is FastPass Kilimanjaro Safari. We knew we had about 45 minutes before our FP worked, so we went on a trail where we saw fish, gorillas, and birds. When our FP timed rolled around, we were in and was on the ride within 10 minutes. They sat us on the front row of this big safari looking truck. Wendy and I looked at each other and said "this is going to be cool". We were right! We went on a tour through Africa with lions, giraffes, elephants, and other African animals I don't know the names of. The great part is that they were all right out in the open. After we finished the Kilimanjaro Safari, we made our way to lunch for some hot dogs and McDonald fries. The hot dog was pretty good, but I'm already tired of fries. After lunch, we went to Dino World and rode the TriceraTop Spin. It is kinda like the Dumbo ride except with dinos instead of Dumbos. Dillon and I rode in the back of our dino while Wendy and Abby rode in the front. It was a quick ride, but the kids loved it. We caught a glimpse of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto on our way to get an ice cream treat. They were all riding and singing on a boat in the middle of the Animal Kingdom's lake. Whenever the characters show up, the crowds stop and watch. We ended our first trip to the Animal Kingdom with the classic Disney World treat... vanilla ice cream covered in chocolate shaped like Mickey Mouse. Ummm Ummm good! Mid afternoon we headed back to the room to prepare to meet Nikki and Tim and Grandy and Pappy. We made a mistake and got off at the French Quarter drop off and had to wait for the next bus. It all worked out for the best allowing us to meet Nikki and Tim in the Riverside lobby as they checked in. After we got the switching rooms thing straight and switched(now we're in 1631), Dillon and I headed to the Disney Studios to ride the Star Wars ride. He was so pumped about going! We had a great time. There was only about a 5 minute wait and we were on the ride. He loved it. Grandy and Pappy made it in ok late this afternoon just as Abby was waking up from her nap. After we all got settled, we went to the food court for some fine dining. It was really great all being there together.

Monday, October 3, 2005 What a great day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrived just in time to see the opening celebration at 9 am. Mickey and friends opened the park with song and dance. Upon entering the park, we stopped for an autograph and picture of Goofy. After that, we quickly headed over to start our day of rides. This was our schedule during the first part of the day: Dumbo, Carousel, It's a Small World, Fastpassed Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Country Bear Jamboree, Big Thunder Mountain (Fast Pass), Fastpassed Buzz, ate Lunch at Cosmic Rays Starlite Cafe', rode the Tomorrow Land Transit Authority, Buzz Light Year, Carousel of Progress. This was all before 2:00! We then headed back to the hotel for nap time. We all had dinner together at our food court and then headed back to the Magic Kingdom. We rode the WDW railroad to Frontierland where we got great curbside seats for the Spectro Magic Parade and the park closing Wishes fire works display. WOW! Both were magnificent, worth the wait, and worth fighting the crowds. We also were excited to come up with a creative way to get back to Port Orleans Riverside. The line to get back to Port Orleans Riverside was huge, but the line to the French Quarter was very short. We jumped on the French Quarter bus, then hopped the Downtown Disney bus that made its next stop at Port Orleans Riverside. We think we saved at least an hour! Overall, our first day together as a family was a big success. Dillon and Abby had such a great time seeing and doing so much fun stuff.

October 4, 2005 Disney MGM Studios! We arrived at the park about 10 am. We slept in a little this morning due to our late night Monday. I immediately headed to the Rock-n-Roller Coaster to get Fastpasses while the rest of the family headed to Playhouse Disney to try and catch the 10 o'clock showing. After I got the Fastpasses, I hoofed it towards the Playhouse Disney show, but the planned changed. Playhouse was full, so we opted for the Little Mermaid show instead. The Little Mermaid show was so great! Under the sea! Under the sea! It looked like we were underwater with special effects like lasers, real rain, mist that we could feel, and at one point bubbles. That along with the classic Little Mermaid songs and a live Little Mermaid singing them made the show a lot of fun. After the Little Mermaid, we tried again to watch the Playhouse Disney show, but once again it filled up!!! Then it started to rain. So, we went to see the Beauty and the Beast show. Dillon and Abby both loved it. It was a fun musical production of the Disney classic. When we exited, the rain had gone and stayed away for the remainder of the day. After that, we went to meet Nikki and Tim at the Rock-n-Roller Coaster. Pappy, Tim, Wendy and I rocked and rolled!!! Great ride... 0 to 60 in 3 seconds, 3 loops, all inside, and loud Aerosmith playing in the cushion behind our heads. After the roller coaster, we had lunch and got fastpasses for Star Tours. We then headed to the Indiana Jones show. There were cool effects, but overall a little disappointing because it dragged so much at times during the show. After the show, Abby and I saved seats for the Stars and Motor Cars parade while everyone else rode Star Tours with the fastpass. Wendy, Dillon, Abby and I finished out our day by going to play in the Honey I shrunk the kids playground, and the Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. Pappy, Grandy, Tim and Nikki stayed behind at the studios while we headed back to chill for the rest of the night. Wendy, Dillon, Abby and I had a great dinner at Boatwrights(the restaurant at our hotel). Another great day!!!

Wednesday, October 5, 2005 EPCOT! We quickly headed to the SOARIN ride and fastpassed it. While we waited, we took a ride on Living with the Land, a boat ride that talked about... the land. The neat part was taking the boat through the green house. They're growing some cool stuff at EPCOT like pumpkins that are shaped like Mickey's head. After Living with the Land, we watched the Circle of Life film and then headed over to SOARIN. SOARIN ROCKS!!! It feels like you're flying over California. Dillon loved it so much he rode it twice due to our child swap ticket. While Dillon, Grandy, and Pappy were riding SOARIN, Nikki, Tim, Wendy, Abby and I rode Journey into Imagination with Figment. We then took our picture and emailed them back home. I then ran over to test track to grab fastpasses while everyone else shopped... that's right... I'm the FASTPASS GUY! Then, lunch at the Electric Umbrella. We then rode the very exciting Test Track. We're talkin' a very fun and sometimes fast test drive like you're a test dummy. Pretty Cool 1st half of the day. After the first half, Grandy and Pappy stayed at Epcot while the rest of us took the monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. While there we rode the Tea Cups, Indy Speedway, and saw Mickey's Philharmagic. It began raining on us after the Speedway, but while in Philharmagic it stopped. We were in the mood for a snack at this point, so we decided to stop by a bakery on the way out. After we got back to our room, Wendy and I got showered and got ready for our date night at Fulton's Crab House. Grandy and Pappy took care of Dillon and Abby, while Nikki and Tim joined us for our date night. Fulton's was great. Wendy and I had lobster tail, king crab, garlic potatoes, veggies, and the best lobster bisque I've ever eaten/sipped/slurped/whatever. After the meal, Nikki and Tim went one way and we went another. We walked over to the magic shop, but didn't stay very long since it was such a rip off. We then headed back to the World of Disney for some shopping. After shopping, we shared some chocolate from Ghiradell's. We then went to the scrapbook store where Wendy had a blast buying some things that will help her when she tackles our Disney scrapbook. We had such a great time hanging out together! We're so thankful to have Grandy and Pappy on the trip with us to help take care of Dillon and Abby.

 Disney, Thursday, October 6, 2005 ANIMAL KINGDOM with the rest of the family!!! I quickly headed to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and fastpassed it for the family. The rest of the family went and got seats at the Lion King show. I met them there and WOW... IT WAS AWESOME. Of course I'm a huge Lion King fan in the first place, but it was so much fun singing along and watching the show. After Lion King, we headed over to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride and once again it was great. After the Safari ride, we finished our short day by taking the train over to the petting zoo where our beloved little Abby kissed a goat! We then took the train again and headed over to the Dinoland area. On the way we stopped for great BBQ lunch and chocolate cake. Wendy, Pappy and I rode the Primeval Whirl for and exciting twisting coaster experience and then watched the kids take another spin on the TriceraTop Spin. After this we had already planned on cutting our day a little short so we could go and rest up for the next full and final day at the Magic Kingdom. That night we had dinner off property at Chevy's Fresh Mex. It was good to have some FAJITAS!!!

Friday, October 7, 2005 MAGIC KINGDOM, FINAL DAY!!! Well, Wendy had prepared ahead of time for this trip like a pro. We called her Queen Bee all week long because of her careful planning that allowed us to get the most out of Disney. On this final day, she had discovered that the early opening for those staying at the resorts was at the Magic Kingdom. So, we made our trek early and were there by 7:50 am. Upon our arrival, bad news... the security guard informed us that the early opening had changed to the Animal Kingdom and the Magic Kingdom would not open until 9am. Ouch! Our last day was not off to a good start. We tried to stay positive thinking that at least it was cool that we would be one of the first ones in the gate. Ahhhh but then the good news came... the gatekeeper shared with us that it would be only 5 to 10 minutes before the gate opened but only Tomorrow land would be open. Only Tomorrow Land??? There were only like a hundred people at the gate!!! We realized that we were about to experience a rare opportunity. Sure enough, when we made it to Tomorrow Land, it was practically deserted. headed straight for Buzz Light Year and BOOM... we were the first of the day to ride it. We got off and then got right back on. After that we headed straight for Space Mountain. Dillon's hair touched the measurement stick, so he was good to go. We went straight on with no wait. Dillon was a little scared, but he did great. After we got off, Wendy, Tim and Nikki went back and rode it again with no wait. We were having a blast! Abby had fun playing in the arcade at Space Mountain while everyone took turns riding. Dillon and Pappy headed over to Buzz and rode it two more times while waiting for Wendy, Tim, and Nikki to finish on Space Mountain. After Space Mountain, we headed over to Fantasy Land so we could jump on a bunch of rides quickly. In the matter of an hour, we knocked out Winnie the Pooh, Peter Pan, the Tea Cups, and It's a Small World. We knew Toon Town was opening at 10 am, so we went over there to be some of the first to ride the Goofy's Barn Stormer. Dillon was able to ride it twice in a row because of the child swap ticket. Wendy rode it first with him, and then I took my turn. Toon town is also where all of the characters hang out along with the homes of Mickey and Minnie. We had fun touring Mickey and Minnie's houses. Dillon and Abby were all smiles. After our tour, Grandy and Pappy met back up with us after having visited the Hall of Presidents, the Haunted Mansion(rumor has it Pappy was scared), and taking a second ride on Big Thunder Mountain. We then took another spin on the carosel while Grandy and Pappy checked out Mickey's Philharmagic. While we were doing this, Nikki and Tim were off checking out the Magic Carpet ride and the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. We then met up for lunch at Pecos Bill's for some $7.00 burgers. After lunch, we fastpassed the jungle cruise and while waiting we checked out the Tree House while Dillon rode the Magic Carpet ride with Nikki and Tim. We then went on the really lame Jungle Cruise boat ride, and watched the equally lame Tiki Room show(editors note: this is only Chris' opinion and does not represent the entire family). We headed to Cinderella's Castle for the Cinderellabration, but it began to rain so they cancelled it. Instead we shared a sure enough good funnel cake and went to stake out Main Street spots for the Share a Dream Come True parade. It was a great way to end our time in the Magic Kingdom. The parades were all great! The names were a bit much, but the parades were great! On the way back to the hotel that afternoon, Abby crashed in Pappy's arms. As soon as we got back, Wendy, Dillon, Pappy and I went swimming in the very large resort pool. The water slide was a plus! We finished out the night having dinner with Pappy and Grandy at Boatwrights and doing some souvenir shopping at the gift shop in our resort. Nikki and Tim went to see Cirque du Soleil(pronounced Circus de Ole').

Saturday, October 8 CHECK OUT - I didn't want the week to end. We had such a great time together with family. It means so much to me that Nikki and Tim came and hung out with us for the week. I've got the greatest sister in the world and have been equally blessed with Tim as a brother-n-law/uncle/husband to my sister. And I could never say enough about my in-laws. Grandy and Pappy are great!!! I'm so thankful they came this week and spent it with Dillon and Abby. We really did make memories that will last a lifetime. Wendy and I are so blessed.