Travel
Day 1 - August 13, 2005
August 13, 2005

Fly to Orlando
Drive to Wilderness Lodge
Dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern
Magic Kingdom 
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Today's the day!  We're off once again for Walt Disney World and have a 6:40 flight to catch.  I was up around 4:30a and ready to go by the time the girls got up around 5am.   Everyone got to bed quite early last night, and that made it pretty easy to get going.  We must be getting better at this, because we had everything ready to go WAY before we usually do.  All the packing was done and the car loaded by 9pm last night!  (BELIEVE ME - that's a record!)  :-D

Anyway, back to this morning.  We were off and on the road just before 5:30 and headed to our local airport.  This is just a small airport, but its nice since its seldom busy.  We found a great spot in the Long term parking and headed inside.  Had several GREAT US Airways employees check us in.  I think they were bored, because about three of them helped us!  ;-)   Off to grab a real quick breakfast sandwich and then through the bag check.  Made a BIT of a mistake in my timing, and heard the final boarding call for our flight as we exited the bag check.  Oops!   No problem though, we were out the door a minute later and boarding the small little puddle jumper US Airways runs between Binghamton and Philly. 

Hi from the Philly AirportIt was an EMPTY flight.  There were 11 passengers and 52 seats!  Made it nice and quiet though.  We were quickly in the air and its only a 30 minute flight to Philly.  The girls were excited to be flying again and enjoyed the short flight.  We came in to terminal F and caught a shuttle over to terminal C for our Orlando Flight.  LOTS of time to poke along, but disappointed with the Philly airport.  We like Pittsburgh MUCH better because of the mall stores.  Gives you something to do to pass the time. 

Ended up just waiting at the terminal, and snapped a quick pic of the girls waiting.   Had to wait about an hour ro so before the plane started loading, but it went pretty fast.  The flight was full, so there were a ton of people waiting for the flight.  Could have upgraded to first class for ONLY $100 extra per ticket, but decided to pass!  ;-)  Maybe next time!  (Right!)  No problems on the flight down at all other than about a 10 minute wait while Philly changed the outgoing runway.  Then we were off!  Pretty much turbulence free until the last 15 minutes or so.  A good overall  flight.

On the flight from Philly to MCOWe left the plane and headed off to Baggage claim B.  Sure hope all our luggage made it this time!  Last year one bag was AWOL for awhile...   No worries.   The first three bags came rolling along within a minute of us reaching the area.  Waited a few minutes and the last bag came around the bend.  Yea!  :-)

We had a smartcart ($3.00 rental) - so we loaded it up and headed downstairs to the rental car area.  Since we had booked National Emerald Aisle we didn't have to hit the counter.  Well, at least not yet...  We get over to the Aisle and it is EMPTY except two cars!  (Intermediate was empty too!) Grrrr....This was about noon - a little after.  One already had the keys missing, so we assumed someone had already grabbed that one and headed back for bags.  If you decide to do this (Hi Mike!) PLEASE lock the car when you take the keys.  We spent a while rummaging through the vehicle looking for them.  Sigh...

I went over to ask about cars, and they acted like I was bothering them.  More were SUPPOSEDLY on the way, but none came while WE were there.  We ended up grabbing the very last Stratus, which had JUST enough room for our luggage if we also used part of the back seat.  Not too bad, and only 700 miles!  We were off!  We took 417 to Walt Disney World, and I had Kristen snapping pics of roadsigns the whole way back.  And in the process MISSED our exit!  LOL  Oops!


CelebrationWe took the next exit though and headed into Celebration.  We visited there once before, but never made it downtown.  This time we did, and drove all around checking it out.  Such a beautiful area - we really liked it here.  And it looks to be expanding like crazy - lots of construction.  Finally, worked our way around to World Drive and headed into WDW.  Yea!  Just a slight detour, but a fun one all the same! 









Walt Disney WorldThe girls were VERY excited to see the Disney World sign, and pretty much bounced and screamed the rest of the way to the Wilderness Lodge!  :-)

We passed through the parking booths, telling the CM we were checking in at the WL.  Pulled into the Wilderness Lodge a few minutes later and were greeted by a friendly security guard that gave us our first Welcome Home!  He provided our parking pass and directed us to the Valet area.  A great CM unloaded our luggage and we headed into the Lodge.  Beautiful and breathtaking as always!   There was not much of a line, and a friendly CM was greeting people in line, passing out Disney Adventure books to the kids and some Mickey Stickers.  She was very friendly and fun to chat to while we waited for the next counter CM.  Soon Roger was free and ready to check us in. 


DVC One BedroomAs we started into the reservation it became obvious that my two DVC reservations - I added Saturday later - had NOT been linked.   They were going to make us come down and check in again tomorrow.  Oh, no - I linked these at booking AND called and confirmed they were linked. 











DVC One Bedroom LivingroomGuess it never REALLY happened though... :-/  Need to talk with Member services...  Anyway, Roger worked to correct this problem and soon had it all fixed so we did NOT have to check in again.  Very good! 













view off balconyOur GOOD luck continued in that the room was ready!  Woo Hoo!  (2pm)  It's a great room on the fifth floor and very close to the elevators.  I add the room number after we are not IN the room anymore!  ;-)  The girls ran through the place, giving their high approval of everything.  They are SO spoiled by the DVC one bedroom units.  And they love them!  They have deemed the walk in closet their own special play room.  ;-)  Our luggage was their in minutes, and after I (of course!) snapped pics of the room we quickly unpacked while the girls played for a while. 


Cinderella's Castle
Castle
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Castle
From the WL dockDinner tonight will be the Liberty Tree Tavern, but that is not until 6:30.  The girls are starving NOW.  So we decide to head to the Magic Kingdom and grab a quick snack to tide us over.  We jump on the boat from the Wilderness Lodge (WL) to the Magic Kingdom (MK) and the first thing we do is go to guest services to get the girls Annual Passes.  This is made MUCH less painful by the nice $100 per adult and $85 per child discount we get as DVC members. 







Boat to the MKI also upgrade my AP (bought in December just before the discount) to a Premium AP and got money BACK (5 bucks and change!)  Now THAT doesn't happen at Disney very often!!!!!  :-D  Oh MAN - I just remembered I was going to pick up our MVMCP tickets for later this year too.  And I FORGOT!  D'oh!  Shhh...   I'll have to stop at Guest Services again...









Casey'sOn into the parks.  No lines at the turnstiles around 3:30 so in we went.  The girls were wearing their golden Mickey ears from Disneyland (thanks MargaretJ!) and the CM loved them.  She noticed that they did not have names, and directed us to the Chappo shop to have them put on for free.  That is a GREAT idea, but will have to wait until AFTER a snack!  :-)  Girls seemed to love the decorated castle and it does look very nice.  I love the gold, but the mirror is just huge... I can't decide if I like it or not, but its not as bad as I thought it would be.  It was cool seeing it change from castle pic to castle pic. 










VMKWe decided on Casey's for our snack.  I always hear its good, so we thought we would try it out.  Kristen and I split a Hot Dog, and the girls some Corn Dog Nuggets.  Just enough to take off the edge, but not ruin dinner!  It was very good, and we even snagged a table to sit at inside.  Its pretty limited seating in there, but SOOOO hot out today we needed the cooldown already!  We expected the heat, so that wasn't a real problem, but being in direct sunlight is BRUTAL. 

Girls with StitchWe finished up our snack and then headed back up Main Street.  Having the girls names on their hats sounded great so we went back to the Hat Shop.   There was NO line, and the CM's behind the counter LOVED the hats.  Neither had seen the DisneyLAND versions, so they went on and on! ;-)  (Thanks again Margaret!  :-D )   Our CM was just a bit nervous that she might make a mistake since they could not REPLACE the hats, but she did great!  AND she gave each of the girls a VMK (Virtual Magic Kingdom) card for golden ears in the only game!  Brinn was SO excited! 

Girls with BuzzSpeaking of VMK, we headed up to the Main Street Cinema where they have VMK Central set up.  You can play VMK in there, and they also have 'quests' for you to go on.  These quests are hunts for park details, and then you can bring back the filled out quests for codes for online prices, etc.  We grabbed quest sheets, and headed off for Tomorrowland. 

The park was not to busy really - lots of people, but NOT packed or anything.  We've seen MUCH worse!  We had printed off a Tomorrowland VMK quest before leaving home, so we worked on that as we went.  I think we found all answers except one so far.  Its been fun, and the girls enjoy it as we tour.   Grabbed a Buzz fast pass that was good in an hour, and then headed on Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA).  We all love this ride, and Brinn was particularly interested in the Space Mountain (SM) portion.  She is striving to conquer Space this year!  ;-)  It has ALWAYS freaked her out a bit, but she is ready to try again.. Or so she thinks!  She waffles a bit as we talk about getting Fast Passes for SM next...  TTA was fun as always, and as we got off I saw that the Carousel of Progress was open!  Yea!  We all enjoy this one, and its so NICE and COOL!  :-)  Very nice. 

TeacupsWhen we exited, it was already our Buzz Lightyear time!  I zipped over for Space Mountain Fast passes (Brinn was NOT happy with me... "I don't think I'm ready yet...")  Hmmmmm....  :-)  Then we were off and onto Buzz.  I LOVE fast pass.  We walked by so MANY people waiting in line and it was just about a walkon.   I got just over 250,000.  I need to practice more since I have a challenge in December!  We'll definitely have to do this again tomorrow!  Maybe twice!  :-D



Girls with Goofy



OK - it's approaching dinner time.  So its off to Frontierland and the Liberty Tree Tavern! (LTT)  This is the first time the girls have eaten here, and they don't know what to expect.  They LOVE Chef Mickey's and since we usually do THAT our first day they are a bit off guard.  But they are willing o give it a shot, and are excited to see Goofy and Chip while we are waiting in the lobby.  Soon we are seated, and our very efficient and friendly waiter (whose name I already forgot!) had us drinks in NO time.  Water!  Bring WATER!  :-)  Girls with MinnieDuring the salad course with GREAT warm rolls we saw Dale, Pluto and Goofy!  And during the main course, (ham, turkey, flank steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, Mac & cheese and stuffing) we saw Minnie and Chip.  Several characters made it back before dessert (Cherry Cobbler and vanilla ice cream) to wave and say hello again.  Everything was wonderful - even the Cherry cobbler.  Our family doesn't care for cherry ANYTHING, and at least the adults LOVED the cobbler anyway!

Rory!  Kristen said the waiter's name was Rory!  Well, he did great, and quickly brought our bill and deducted the 20% for the Disney Dining Experience (DDE) card we had purchased.  I think I'm going to love this card.  I already saved $15!  We were seated right NEXT to a door, and Kristen asked if we could exit that way.  At first Rory said sorry, that isn't an exit, but then let us out there anyway.  I think he appreciated that we tipped for the full bill amount, not the discount!  ;-)  OK - that and he was very friendly and nice! 

WL LobbyWe were full, but VERY happy with our new choice.  Loved LTT!  And now it was time for our return to Space Mountain!  How is THAT for timing.  Not the fast pass really, but going on a coaster RIGHT after a huge meal!  Uh-oh!   Back across the park, and people were already filling up the parade route.  It was just before 8 and the parade was to be at 9.   WL LobbyThere was a 60 minute wait for SM, (at least, they were lined up way past the entrance), but with Fast Pass we pretty much walked on.  I just can't imagine waiting in those lines!   Anyway, Brinn was a bit worried but being rather brave.  She had worked out that she had to have me behind her and Kristen in front of her.  Maddy rode in the car just in front of us.  She LOVES Space mountain and vounteered to ride 'alone'.  :-D   Brinn got in and was REALLY nervous, but she didn't complain at all after it started.  I kept my hands on her shoulders, and she did GREAT!  She even liked it and thinks she'll do it again.  I hope so.  Maddy just LOVES this ride.  Brinn was so proud of herself, we picked out a space mountain pin for both of them as a 'treat'. 

DVC MickeyOK, we are all super tired (having started the day around 4:30 or 5am!) so we head back to the WL.  The parade and Wishes will have to wait for another night.  I sent the girls ahead while I took a few castle pics but caught up to them just as the boat for the WL arrived.   There was a terrific heat lightening storm going on as we road back.  Really lighting up the sky!   Grabbed a few things in the store for breakfast (haven't made it to the store yet!) and crashed!  It was a long but GREAT first day!  Tomorrow - back to the Magic Kingdom!  :-)

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