Friends Weekend Trip (January 2011)

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I've been in a Disney mood lately and hopefully in the next few months I'll be able to start planning a trip for sometime in 2016, so I decided (after seeing some old trip reports) to put mine out there from my last trip in 2011.

So a little about me...I live in Central PA but grew up outside of Pittsburgh.

Prior to the 2011 trip, I had been to Disney twice. In 1997, I was there with the my high school band. We stayed offsite and only visited 2 parks (Epcot & Magic Kingdom) plus Universal Studios. In 2006, when I was living in South Carolina, my parents decided to come visit for Easter so we decided to make a weekend trip to Disney out of it (about 4.5 hours away from where I lived) and both sisters (and brother-in-law) joined us.

So on to the 2011 trip. A subset of a group I belong to has a tradition of traveling together every year on MLK weekend. They've done this every year since the late 80s. They've been all over (NYC, DC, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas to name a few) and when they came to Savannah in 2008 I joined in since I only lived a short distance away. 2011 was the 25th anniversary of this group tradition (those who come change frequently but there are 3 who have gone to every single one). In early 2010 it was decided that the group would go to Disney for the 25th, so the planning began. Ultimately there were 9 of us that went on this trip.

TBC...

 

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I'm going to attempt to link to the direct posts as I work on this, so hopefully it will be ok.

Pre-Planning
Arrival Day/The Mixmatched Shoes
We're Celebrating
Steelers are Going to the Super Bowl!
The Hottest Day of the Trip
Departure Day
Thoughts/Observations
Pictures!!!!!!!!

 

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Pre-Planning

Ok, so whenever we plan on of these weekend trips there are two things we (those of us who go) make note of: 1- it's a F-M trip, and 2- if you're not one of the charter members of this group, you pretty much have no voting power when it comes to making decisions about anything. That's not to say that the rest of us don't get to voice an opinion; we just know that it's ultimately up to those 4 to decide things.

The cast of characters- myself, A, B, D, J, K, L, M, & S. We (currently) range in age from mid-30s to early-70s. We all get along wonderfully and have a great time when we get together. The 4 charter members are A, J, K, & M. We knew Disney was on the agenda for 2011 for a while, so those ladies happened to be together at a weekend conference for our bigger group so they sat down and made some tentative plans for our weekend visiting Mickey.

The initial plans included going the weekend after MLK (because of the pricing & crowd levels) with dinners at the Rainforest Cafe (DD location), Le Cellier, & Prime Time Cafe and lodging at BLT. There was also some initial discussion about a Grand Gathering experience at Epcot. We also decided to have "concert tour" t-shirts made for all the locations the group had been during the past 25 years.

So...it turns out we weren't able to do most of those tings we initially wanted to do. Due to the Grand Gathering schedule, we weren't able to do that nor were we able to get reservations at Le Cellier. We didn't end up eating at Rainforest Cafe either but I don't really remember why we swapped that out.

I'm looking back through my old emails as I type this out, but on 8/25/10 we received our confirmation of our lodging and dinner reservations. On Friday we would eat at the California Grill after check-in at BLT. Saturday we would eat at the Biergarten. Sunday we would eat at the Prime Time Cafe. Monday would be the official end to the trip (although some would ultimately extend their trips). We also purchased the meal plan, which I'm usually not a huge fan of doing, but since we were eating at CG it was not a big deal.

The members of this group live in PA, OH, MI, & IN so there was just no way we'd all be traveling together. When we first put down our deposit I was assuming I'd be driving from SC, but then I moved back to PA so that meant I needed to purchase a plane ticket. I had some miles I could use, but was unable to use them on any flights through my local airport. I have some relatives who live very close to an airport that allowed me to use them for a one-way ticket back, so I ended up purchasing a nonstop one-way ticket on AirTran for about $100.

Once our park schedule was set, I decided that there was no way I could skip MK especially since I was staying so close, so I booked a one-night stay for Monday night so that I could spend that day in my favorite Disney park. It turns out some others (A & J) were going to stay a few extra days and D scheduled a late Monday flight so we all made plans to enjoy MK together on Monday.

I can't think of anything else I'm missing in the pre-planning stages we did, but I have to say that I've chuckled several times going through my emails about all of this.

 

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Arrival Day/The Mixmatched Shoes

So the day before (Thursday 1/20/11) I drove to my aunt & uncle's house and spent time with them & my cousin who happened to be home at the time. She ended up being the one who drove me to the airport the next morning so it worked out well since my aunt & uncle had work & volunteer stuff to do Friday morning. So this is where I should mention that as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that I didn't have my non-tennis shoes with me for our dinner for at CG. I called my friend J (who 1- has graciously let m "rent" her spare bedroom for the last 5 years and 2- was also going on this trip, but flying out of our local airport), and asked her to grab them from my room. So that was taken care of (or so I thought).

My non-stop flight to Orlando was uneventful and I managed to finish the book I was reading at the timeas well listen to my Ipod. When I arrived in Orlando I made my way to the Disney's Magical Express lines. As I hopped in line for BLT I noticed that my friend A was also in line (probably about 30-40 people in front of me). When the next bus arrived she managed to get on, but I was five people too far back to get on so our plan to sit together on the bus went down the drain. The next bus for our resort group arrived about 10-15 minutes later and we were on our way!

After my bus arrived at BLT I noticed that it was raining and mentioned this to A as we were checking in (it turns out her bus took a little longer to drop off the guests at the other resorts than mine did and so she arrived just minutes before I did). We had a little mix-up with the room keys as the Cast Member who checked in the first person from our group didn't make a note in the computer that all the keys were given to her. It didn't help that neither A nor myself were able to listen to our voice mails from D who apparently had all of the keys. So with new keys issued, we made our way to our 2-bedroom villa. It was POURING outside when we attempted to take the outside route, so we opted to take the inside pathway from the Contemporary over to BLT. Our villa was gorgeous and well-suited for our group's needs. As the rest of our group of 9 began showing up we spent time catching up with each other and then proceeded to get ready for our dinner over at the California Grill.

When J handed me my shoes as we were getting ready, I realized that they were two different shoes. Thank goodness my pants covered up the differences between the two otherwise I would've been wearing my flip flops to dinner. At least they were 1 left shoe and 1 right shoe! Since we had taken advantage of the dining plan, I didn't really need to worry about which entree to order, so I order the Filet Mignon. It was very good as was my chocolate molten cake dessert. As we were finishing dessert our waitress told us that Wishes would be starting momentarily so we headed out to the observation deck to watch. I did manage to get some decent pictures.

After dinner we went back to our room and started making plans for the next day, which we would be spending at Epcot. We got to see most of the electrical water pageant as well, which I had never seen before. Eventually we all turned in for the night in order to rest up for the next day.

 

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We're Celebrating

Saturday was our day in Epcot. We decided to wear our matching "concert tour shirts" that day, but because of the chilly FL weather, most of has sweatshirts or light jackets one so we didn't really get to show them off. We were able to sport our "I'm Celebrating" buttons though. Somewhere around 8:30 am we made our way from our room at BLT over to the CR to catch the monorail to the TTC and then transferred to the monorail that would take us over to Epcot. It was a sunny day, but a little on the windy side. I think we were all grateful for the fact that we weren't at home shoveling snow.

We made our way over to The Land so that we could get fast passes for Soarin (remember that this is pre-Magic Bands/booking fast passes online). The line was actually pretty short when we got there so instead of grabbing fast passes, we hopped in line. Just as we got to the front of the line, there was a malfunction of some sort. We opted to wait 10 minutes to see if it could be fixed, but it wasn't so we got out and decided to ride Living with the Land instead. After we got off that we decided to see if Soarin was back online. It was, but the line was longer than we wanted to wait so we grabbed fast passes. We managed to see Captain EO, ride Journey into Imagination with Figment, the Seas with Nemo & Friends, and Ellen's Energy Adventure before it was time to head back to the Land in order to eat lunch and use our fast passes for Soarin. Before we headed back there, S & I went over to Test Track and picked up fast passes for everyone. In almost every line we stood in, everyone asked what we were celebrating. We got some funny looks as we tried to explain that we were all in the same college group at different times & at different colleges but that we get together every year to just hang out & have a good time.

After eating lunch at Sunshine Seasons we finally got to ride Soarin. I think it's definitely my new favorite attraction in Epcot. After Soarin, we rode Spaceship Earth and then made our way to Test Track to use our fast passes. Test Track was fun as well. At this point our group of 9 decided to start splitting up. Most of us went on Mission: Space while the rest started venturing over to the World Showcase. After Mission: Space, S and I decided to go on the rides in Mexico & Norway. Once we got off Maelstrom, we asked one of the Cast Members to call over to Soarin to see how long the standby line was (we liked it THAT much). It was longer than we really wanted to wait and was afraid it would interfere with our ADR at the Biergarten, so we opted to browse the World Showcase instead. The only other attraction in the WS we actually took in was O Canada. We then made our way back to Germany for dinner. The food on the buffet was very good as was the entertainment ( I had eaten there on my 2006 trip, so I knew what to expect). At this point there was a little over an hour to kill before Illuminations so S and I decided to head back to The Land and see how long the line for Soarin was. We got there and discovered the standby line was 55 minutes. We decided to wait anyhow and if it was going to take longer than that we would get out and go watch the show. We ended up missing the show, but a second ride on Soarin was worth it.

Our day ended with a ride on the monorail back to BLT. The electrical water pageant was finishing up just as we were getting back to our room. Everyone was getting ready for bed when we got to the room, so we decided to call it a night as well, but not before I grabbed my gloves out of my suitcase and put them into my park bag for the next day at Hollywood Studios (by the end of the night my hands were cold). I set the alarm on my phone and fell asleep almost immediately (but not before the girls came out and asked for my Apples to Apples cards).

 

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Steelers are Going to the Super Bowl!

So day 3 of the trip was spent at Disney's Hollywood Studios (which I still refer to as MGM). The group sort of split into two as we were getting ready, so we didn't arrive at the same time, which turned out to not really be a big deal. My group consisted of M, L, S, D & myself. Once we entered the park we knew to head straight to Toy Story Mania to pick up our fast passes. There was a parade of sorts coming down Hollywood Boulevard so we were detained a little bit, but one of the highlights of my day occurred just then.

I should preface this with a mention that the Steelers were playing that evening for the AFC Championship so of course I had on a Steelers sweatshirt. In fact, throughout the day I saw TONS of people proudly displaying their Steelers gear. As we were stopped waiting for the parade to pass us by, one of the Cast Members on the float pointed right at me and said that she loved my shirt. YAY PITTSBURGH! Needless to say that started off my day on a good note.

Once we got our fast passes for TSM we decided we would head towards the Tower of Terror. On the way there we decided to catch the next Beauty & the Beast show which was getting ready to start. After that, we hopped in the line for ToT, but the wait time quickly went from 15 minutes to 80 minutes, so we nixed that idea really fast and decided that we would ride it during Extra Magic Hours that night. We then managed to catch up to the rest of the gang and we took in the Great Movie Ride and the Backlot Tour, both of which I had never been on before.

After eacting lunch at the Backlot Express, the five of us who came in together took in the Indiana Jones show while the other four went to use their TSM fast passes. While they were in line it broke down, so they were given the opportunity to come back later in the day during via the FP line. Once we all caught up together we saw the Lights! Camera! Action! Stunt Show followed by MuppetVision 3-D. At this point the fleet broke up for a little while (notice no mention of Star Tours thus far; it was being refurbished during our visit), and S and I browsed some of the shops until it was time to meet up at the 50s Prime Time Cafe for our ADR. Our fast passes for TSM were for a time that would've put our ADR in jeopardy so we just decided to ride that during EMH as well.

Dinner was ok. I'd definitely give it another shot, but I wouldn't say it was my favorite place to eat in the World. It could be because I wasn't exactly hungry so I didn't really eat anything. In fact, Suzanne and I split a couple appetizers. After dinner we hopped in the LONG line for Fantasmic, which I had never seen. After the show we went and got in the line for the ToT, which was great. I wish we would've purchased the picture from it.

EMH in the parks are great. By the time we got off ToT, there was hardley any crowd in the park at ALL! It was great! We finally made our way to TSM, and while we were waiting in line to use our FPs (FTR the standby line was still over an hour long) I began texting with a friend to check on the Steelers. Just as I was getting in the car I got the confirmation text that the STEELERS WERE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL! I was so excited! I loved TSM, but S did beat me. After TSM, we decided to check out the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was good.

After that we pretty much decided we were too tired to stay out until the end of EMH, so we decided to leave and head back to BLT for the evening. I didn't a chance to go on Rock N Roller Coaster, but it wasn't the end of the world. I still had a good day, and realized that there's so much more to HS than I had seen on my last visit in 2006.

 

[hes122]

The Hottest Day of the Trip

D & I got a head start on things since she had to depart earlier than the rest of us. I figured we would get to see more if we started out in Adventureland versus Tomorrowland or Fantasyland, and that certainly was the case. The warm weather we'd been hoping for finally arrived. I still wore my sweatshirt in the park, but there were times when it was definitely not needed. We managed to do quite a bit (considering it was well after 9 when we entered the park) before lunch including the Swiss Family Robinson attraction, Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, get our picture taken with Goofy, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, (no Splash Mountain as it was down for refurbishment), and Tom Sawyer Island before we caught up with A & J in Liberty Square outside the Columbia Harbour House. We decided to take in The Hall of Presidents before lunch, and afterwards took in the Haunted Mansion. Making our way into Fantasyland we decided to check out It's a Small World, but before we hopped in line, I went and got Fast Passes for Peter Pan for A, J & myself (as D would be leaving before the return came around).

IASM is one of my favorite rides in all of WDW. In 2006 when I visited with my family I think my sister & I sang the song the entire time we were in line (ok maybe no the entire time, but we did sing it a few times). After IASM we managed to see Mickey's PhilHarmagic before D left us for the day. I had never seen it before and it was definitely worth the wait. We had a few hours before our FP return for Peter Pan so we decided to head back to Adventureland to take in POTC. Even though I'd already been on it once that day, I enjoyed it a second time. We got caught in some parade traffic so it took us a little longer than we expected to get back over there.

After POTC we decided to hang out and split a funnel cake (yay for snack credits on the DP) in front of Cinderella's Castle and watch the show that was taking place. It was nice to just sit back and relax for a while, especially considering I knew we wouldn't be hitting up Mickey's Toontown Fair and half of Fantasyland and that we'd get through Tomorrowland during EMH later that evening. We then decided to ride Snow White's Scary Adventures and eat dinner at Pinocchio's Village Haus before using our Peter Pan fast passes. After Peter Pan it was time to head out to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade, but because of our timing we didn't really see everything. We managed to find a better spot to watch Wishes from, and as I was getting ready to record it on my digital camera, the batteries died so I pulled out my cell phone and recorded it on there instead.

Now that the park was emptying out we made our way into Tomorrowland towards Space Mountain. A chose to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover instead, so J & I got in line. After SM we met up with A and decided to go on Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin and the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (neither of which I'd ever been on). After that we were pretty much exhausted so we decided to make our way to the hotel. We stopped in a few shops along Main Street on the way out so I could pick up an ornament for myself and we could use up the last of our snack credits.

When we got to Pop Century we had Bell Services deliver our luggage and I got my Magical Express service for the next morning scheduled. I pretty much fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. It was a great day, but the nonstop of the past few days had finally caught up to me and my feet were killing me.

 

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Departure Day

My flight back to reality departed MCO at 11:30ish on Tuesday, so that meant having to be up, out of the room, and at the ME check-in at 8:30. My alarm could've gone off much earlier, so I know I shouldn't be complaining (almost 5 years after the fact) about having to be up that early to get on the bus. The bus and plane rides were uneventful but it was frigid when I got back to PA. I'm fairly sure this was the trip where a major snow storm the next morning causing schools to be closed, but when I woke up Wednesday morning the storm hadn't really started yet yet so I left to get ahead of it. The roads were pretty clear so I'm glad I left when I did. I was sad to have left DW, but throughout the trip S & I discussed taking a longer trip just the two of us at some point. (We still haven't done that).

 

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Thoughts/Observations

I'm going to try to organize my overall thoughts by topic rather than just jumble them all together.

BLT
-loved the location
-loved everyone being together
-loved the 3rd bathroom for the 2 bedroom villa
-loved not feeling like we were all on top of each other
-was pricey for a weekend getaway, but our travel agent didn't do her due diligence to get us the best rates (we could've received a discount)
-would absolutely stay there again for a big group gathering

Dining Plan
- I really have a love/hate relationship with this. I think we got our money's worth (only because we ate at CG), but we all like to drink some with our meals (and get appetizers) I think we all still paid a decent chunk of change OOP between all the extras and gratuities.
-We didn't utilize our counter service meals to the best advantage of the group. Those of us who went to MK on Monday got to use everyone else's CS leftovers for lunch and dinner, plus we had a lot of extra snack credits as well.


Organizing it all
-So much has changed in terms of organizing a trip to WDW since then, so if this group did it again, we'd really have to think about it differently.

Parks visited
-If we did this again, I would suggest a better way to see more in the same relative amount of time (like maybe visiting a park Friday night & eat there).

Overall it was a great trip. We briefly tossed around the idea of going in 2016 for the 30th anniversary but we decided to go to Houston instead.