Rosiejo's FTW trip report (November 2005) Completed 03.04.06

[rosiejo]

Thanks MInniespal - congratulations on your ticker BTW :0)

 

[my3princes]

Great details. Did you take notes? I only managed to post 4 days of our 9 day trip and I keep thinking that I should write more, but I'm quite sure that I don't remember all the little details anymore. Can't wait for more.

Deb

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Clare - great job.

You either wrote a million notes or you have an amazing memory.

I am really enjoying your adventure your colloquialisms. Never heard - Bob's your uncle.

 

[rosiejo]

When we get back to the villa it’s about 1pm and everyone is up and about – Emma’s been for a swim and Ian and Victoria have been for a walk around the villa complex. We all grab our swimming stuff – and our new shiny Disney passes and pile into the A-team van… and we’re off to Disney – woohoo

It was quite busy at TL by the time we got there but we managed to get a few chairs at Castaway cay – right near Crush n gusher. Everyone was keen to try it but we decided we should try some of the older slides first – didn’t want everyone’s expectations to be raised by the new slides!

We slopped on the suntan lotion – had a bit of a swim in the cay and then headed round to the slides. I think we did the family raft first – the line was quite long- about 10-15 minutes. We split into two and DH2b and I went down with Ian and Victoria – only we didn’t really slide down as we seemed to take in way too much water and kept getting stuck! We had to wait for the slide behind to bump us down… :blush

When we reached the bottom we ducked through the rope and went on a second time.

By this time it was about 2pm and I was starving – and the lines for the other slides were still quite long so I suggested we eat and then try again – so off to Sal’s for chicken fingers and fries… yum :0)

We hit the slides again after that – did the single rider tubes and then convinced I & V to do Humunga Kowabunga… which was very funny

BTW by this time the lines were non-existent – best time to visit TL I reckon is about 3pm – even on early closing that gives you 2 hours to do stuff. We rode more in half an hour after 3pm than we did in half an hour before 3.

We got a bit lost in the park at that point – Dad kept saying they must have moved things as he couldn’t work out where he was In the end we just jumped on a ring in the lazy river and floated our way back to castaway cay.

Now we were ready for Crush n Gusher!

We split into three groups – boys in one pair – girls in another – and me in a triple with mum and dad. I’d read somewhere which slide was tame/rough etc but I don’t think they matched!

Now I can’t remember which one was which so I’ll call them left middle and right based on the entrance not the exit – if anyone can fill in the blanks just shout!

The pairs went on the pairs only slide first – mum dad and I hit the left slide as it had the shortest line. OMG is all I can say. I sat at the front and screamed the whole way down – I am not kidding you that first drop took my breath away and for periods of time my bottom was not touching the ring! I think I was in shock by time we hit the water at the end – and mum and dad were deaf! Seems everyone burnt their bottoms as they kept falling through the ring and hitting the slide!!

So then I think we did the middle line – and this time I had the bright idea to sit at the back… now on a subsequent visit I noticed a sign that said lightest must ride in front but no-one said anything… so yes – as you guessed lightest person at the back – that’s me – and my bottom did not touch the ring the ENTIRE slide!!!!!!! I thought I was going to hyperventilate I was so scared

So anyway I was convinced to ride again – on the final slide as a pair – I think I rode with dad but can’t remember… that must have been the right slide and I found it pretty tame in comparison.

I need to skip ahead a bit here to share some tips – on a later visit I rode the other slides in a pair and they were not as bad – so if you want a real thrill ride make sure you try the triple ring – it’s worth every second!!! Make sure the lightest rides in the front – especially if you are an adult riding with a child – they could fly out on the drop – and keep your butt off the slide!

After all the excitement we were pretty tired so we messed around in the water for a bit and then wrapped ourselves in our towels (couldn’t be bothered to get dressed) bought a big bag of doughnuts (yum) and headed back to the truck.

Time was ticking by so we all got showered and changed in record time and headed out for dinner… hmm can’t actually remember where we ate… will have to check and update this bit.

After dinner we hit the Premium Outlet mall – Victoria was in heaven and I think she could have stayed there for the entire two weeks! We all managed to find something to buy so all shopped out we headed home for a well earned rest.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to wear flip flops that evening – as we were only going shopping after all! Boy did my feet ache – I bought a new pair of trainers at the mall and didn’t wear my flip flops again the rest of the trip :0)

That evening – while we were sleeping - mum dad and Emma drove back to Orlando International to pick up my brother (he’d been at a conference in NY).

That meant our whole party had now arrived safe and sound in Orlando – and that the next day we could hit the parks – watch out Epcot here we come :0)

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Really enjoyed reading it.

Thanx for posting.

 

[rosiejo]

I'm doing this all from memory - I had my laptop with me but was too tired by the time we got back in the evenings to write anything down! I did note down the restaurants we ate at - and I have my itinerary for the parks /activities etc... they're at home though so I must dig them out before the next installment! You'll start to see fuzzy bits as I go through - like forgetting the name of the hotel where we met the planner - if anyone knows the answers let me know :0)

That is one of the reason I want to write this up though - it was a very special trip and I'm already forgetting things a few weeks later - I want to be able to read this again in 20 years and remember the little things that made it special - so please bear with me - while I'm trying to make this report useful for trip planners I'm also doing it for just for me

Bob's your uncle - I'd never thought about that one before! Here's a definition I found on the net: "This is a catchphrase which seemed to arise out of nowhere and yet has had a long period of fashion and is still going strong. It’s known mainly in Britain and Commonwealth countries, and is really a kind of interjection. It’s used to show how simple it is to do something: “You put the plug in here, press that switch, and Bob’s your uncle!”." Is there an american equivalent?

 

[cazzie]

Great report, we loved the water parks.

 

[SeattleRedBear]

Bob's your uncle - I'd never thought about that one before! Here's a definition I found on the net: "This is a catchphrase which seemed to arise out of nowhere and yet has had a long period of fashion and is still going strong. It’s known mainly in Britain and Commonwealth countries, and is really a kind of interjection. It’s used to show how simple it is to do something: “You put the plug in here, press that switch, and Bob’s your uncle!”." Is there an american equivalent?

Hmmmm...the only thing I can think of is "easy as pie" (although I never thought of making a pie as anything easy).

 

[Cyrano]

Enjoyed the new installments.
Know what you mean about a memory for yourself. That's exactly what our summer trip to DLP trip report was done for

 

[sue&and]

Am loving your trippies, they're so detailed and really let your imagination run wild! Can't wait for the next instalment!

 

[carolfoy]

Really enjoying your trippies, I wrote mine up quickly as soon as I got back 'cos I wanted to be sure I remembered everything. I also printed all mine off and put them in a photo album along with WDW pics for my mum for xmas so I've got a permanent record.

 

[KayleeUK]

Loving these Rosie.....brings back memories of our wedding

 

[rosiejo]

Today was our first real Disney day – and I’d chosen Epcot because of the newbies in the group. I think it’s a great park but I feel it doesn’t have the same kind of magic as the others – and I was worried it would be a let down if we went to the MK first.

I was keen to get to all of the parks in time for opening so that we could ride the big rides first and avoid the lines. DH2b wasn’t too keen – we had gone the same period last trip and not left the hotel until at least 9am – but then we were in hotel 2 minutes away from AKL and there were only two of us to worry about! And besides this year I’d heard about Jersey Week – and that had me quite worried…

Luckily Dad was on the case and told everyone to meet at the truck at 8am (slightly early but he later told me he always planned to get away at 8.15 every day and he was actually allowing for us all to be a bit late!).

So by 8.10 we were all buckled in – I’d collected $1 off everyone for the parking – we’d checked everyone had their passes – and we were off!

We parked up and everyone spent a few minutes applying sunscreen and taking pictures of spaceship earth (see I said to DH2b – we didn’t do this, hence we got to sleep later ) by 8.30 we were standing in the line for the turnstiles. This is quite a result for us for even in the years when we went as a family – mum dad me and David – we were never at the gates in time for opening – although we did used to go peak times and parks open much earlier then…

They opened the turnstiles at about 8.45 and we were allowed to go up to the entrance of Spaceship Earth – where there was a rope. There was a CM with a megaphone trying to get the crowd excited… hang on we’re at WDW we’re already excited!! Then the bus came over with all the characters on which was cool – I loved the tune that was playing – I have it on a Disney album so I knew all the words and was singing it for a few hours afterwards!

When they finally dropped the rope we avoided all the people heading to meet the characters and walked as fast as we could to Soarin’. We got split in two as we walked as mum and dad, David and Emma were dawdling – but we decided to meet them at the exit and jumped in the queue – I think the wait was 10 minutes. I rode Soarin at Disney Land a few years back so knew what to expect – but thanks to the tip off from DISers I knew which row we wanted to be in – so I quietly asked the CM and she waved us on! Hooray :0) The ride was just as good as I remembered.

Back outside we waited at the bottom of the escalators for an age for the others to come out – at this point I decided that DH2b and I would be in charge of FPs and that we would go on ahead where necessary to pick them up. So when the others finally appeared we grabbed the park passes and hightailed it over to Mission Space – telling the others to head to Test Track and get in line.

We only got 4 FPs for MS – and then the other 4 for TT – some of us just aren’t brave enough to ride that thing! We met the others at TT and stood in line for about 5 minutes. Both DH2b and I really love this ride – especially the bit where you go outside and pick up some speed. Once it was over we jumped back in the FP line while David, Emma, Ian and Victoria went to do MS.

We met them in the exit as we wanted to play space race – for those of you that haven’t been it’s a great simulation for kids and adults where you form two big teams and you have to hit various buttons to move things around on a ship and it’s a race between the two teams. You can get to it through the shop and then walk up the “exit” of the ride. It’s great fun so even if you’re not riding MS check it out.

I think by this time it was probably about 10.30 and I was a little stressed from trying to move people about the park so we decided to split up and go our separate ways – aiming to meet at Spaceship Earth at 3pm.

DH2b and I teamed up with Ian and Victoria and went to see Honey I shrunk the Audience. I think that was it for FW so we headed to the World Showcase. The food and wine festival was in full swing so it was very busy – with all the extra stands in place and people just enjoying the atmosphere.

It was really hot – probably high 80s and we were getting tired from the walking.

I didn’t really enjoy Epcot that day as much as usual – I felt like we didn’t even scrape the surface of it – but then you can’t please 8 people all at once – besides DH2b isn’t a big fan of this park – well the WS in particular so he took advantage of the situation and whizzed us round. We didn’t even get to see the American Adventure :0(

We rode Maelstrom – which I think is cool – although a little short – I love going on it with new victims as you can tell them that we’re about to go down the falls backwards and the believe you! I did however get a bit of a soaking at the bottom by the oil rig – we’d landed and were just stopped there for a second when there was some sort of eruption and the water hit me on the way down!

We had to wait quite a while for the theatre doors to open and were getting quite chilly – when they finally did we rushed through to the other side so we could exit without watching the film!
We did want to give Rio del Tempro {sp} another try as we heard it had been refurbished but we didn’t have time.

We met up with the others and decided to go straight back to the villa – missing out Spaceship Earth – I can’t remember why – I think DH2b and David convinced the others it was rubbish so not worth the effort – hmm I like that one too!

Back at the villa there was time for a very quick nap and then a shower before we headed out to IHOP. {As you’ll see as this report goes on I LOVE this place }

The boys were obsessed with the solitaire game and spent ages trying to figure out how to do it – DH2b mastered it once but then wouldn’t share the secret with anyone else!

As always the food was great – as well as the waitress – DH2b rated the fries about a 9 – and we all managed some pancakes for desert.

Then it was back in the truck and over to the Magic Kingdom.

We had to split our day like this as it was the only night we could see Spectromagic. We got there at about 7pm so we went and staked out a spot in Frontierland to see the parade. We left DH2b and Ian and the rest of us went off to ride BTMR – in the dark. The wait was only about 10 minutes so we rode it twice – I’ve never ridden this one in the dark before and it was amazing! So much faster than in the day time (it’s all in the mind I know).

People had started to really line up in Frontierland for the parade by the time we got back and I remembered I had left my glo sticks in the villa :0( (I bought them in a stationery shop back home and paid about £3 for 30 sticks – much cheaper than the Disney ones!)

As always Spectro was just great – I love the music and the floats – as usual I tried to take photos but they didn’t come out too well – hopefully David's will be better as he had a tripod.

After the parade we headed over to Tomorrowland to watch Wishes. It was quite busy but we secured a good spot – the Christmas tree was a bit of an obstruction though. I love Wishes more and more each time I see it – it’s just so clever how they get the fireworks to co-ordinate with the music. Standing there in my shorts and t shirt I thought of all my friends and family back home who would also be watching fireworks on Guy Fawkes night – huddled up in hats and gloves :0) And the only fireworks worth watching on Guy Fawkes night are Disney ones!

When the show was over we battled our way down Main Street (Dad just doesn’t get the 'sit back and drink in the atmosphere while the crowds disappear' method) and headed back to the Villa for some much needed sleep.


Miles walked today: 6.8 (I forgot to mention that I wore a stepometer this trip - just out of interest...)

 

[natalielongstaff]

great reports i have to agree about btmr i vowed never to ride in the dark again after i went on it

 

[Cyrano]

Another great installment. Good idea about taking the pedometer

 

[disneyeveryyear]

Bob's your uncle - I'd never thought about that one before! Here's a definition I found on the net: "This is a catchphrase which seemed to arise out of nowhere and yet has had a long period of fashion and is still going strong. It’s known mainly in Britain and Commonwealth countries, and is really a kind of interjection. It’s used to show how simple it is to do something: “You put the plug in here, press that switch, and Bob’s your uncle!”." Is there an american equivalent?

Thanks for the translation. It struck me as funny because DH is Bob.

I guess my kids have an equivalent to this "Easy peasie, lemon squeezie" - can't give you a literal translation, but kind of means the same. If I ask one of them "Can you please take out the garbage?" The reply might be (If I am lucky) Easy peasie, lemon squeezie. I am not sure of the spelling on peasie or squeezie - I have never seen it written, just spoken.

 

[rosiejo]

Another great installment. Good idea about taking the pedometer

pedometer! That's the word I was looking for

 

[rosiejo]

Thanks for the translation. It struck me as funny because DH is Bob.

I guess my kids have an equivalent to this "Easy peasie, lemon squeezie" - can't give you a literal translation, but kind of means the same. If I ask one of them "Can you please take out the garbage?" The reply might be (If I am lucky) Easy peasie, lemon squeezie. I am not sure of the spelling on peasie or squeezie - I have never seen it written, just spoken.

That one works - we use EPLS too (don't even want to attempt to spell it!)

 

[fizz13]

Just found your thread and am enjoying every last detail, so please feel free to write away. BTW, CONGRATULATIONS! the pics in your sig have come out lovely. Will look out for more,

Claire xx

 

[Minniespal]

Loving your trip reports Rosie.