The Many Adventures of NaCler (& Family)

[Amy]

Please tell me, NaCler, that you got an Annual Pass!

This is my thought too...

I think he mentioned awhile back that he had gotten a Florida resident pass...

[NaCler]

Don't worry all... I got an annual pass. With the monthly payment thing, I just had to! Although right now they have a Fl resident 3 day pass for $99. Not too shabby.

[mindflipper]

...but that 3 day for $99 is one-park,one-day only. No park hopping.

[Soarin08]

All Star Sports, HERE I COME!!! Kids off from school + 80 degree weather = Another trip to DISNEY!!!

I know I'm behind on my trip reports and I promise I will make up for them... when I get back!

Lordy, you're here AGAIN????

Just kidding, hope you're having fun! If you're at MK tonight, maybe our paths will cross.

I was at MK on Saturday! However it was only for about an hour as I had a sick child and was the one to draw the short straw and leave the park with her! Sorry I didn't get to plan a meetup with you. We didn't decide to go until Thursday and left on Friday!

WWDRH - the wife didn't mind this trip as it was my mom's idea and we met up with other family members that we don't see all of the time. It is working as she is thinking about another trip in February! We'll see if hat happens.

Amy/MmeLeota/mf - you guys can hijack this thread any time you want! Thanks for keeping it going!

I am pretty sure you'll be back soon enough. Like in what, a month?

[NaCler]

2 months Soarin!

Ok, as instituted by Mindflipper and cousininmiami, the instant trip report...

March 20, 2012

As I sit here in my small bed at the Pop Century (my 6yo is with me) I am reflecting upon the days events and it dawns on me that I should probably do my trip report now while I can still remember it. It has absolutely nothing to do with the peer pressure I was receiving on another thread... I promise

We left Jacksonville about 9am after dropping off our dog to the vet for boarding (since Mindflipper doesn't like dogs and refuses to dog sit for me... Just kidding bud). We had no problems on the road and arrived at those glorious purple gates about noon. We checked in at Pop Century and decided to go ahead and eat lunch there instead of eating in the park. I got something a little different than normal cheeseburger/chicken and fries. I got the Mediterranean Flatbread. It had olive tapenade, artichokes, chicken and feta cheese on it. I was surprised at how good it was for being Value Resort food. Also, the fridges have been installed in each room and the free wifi is working nicely... Obviously.

We headed to Animal Kingdom and got here right at 2pm... But that was ok because AK was open until 8pm tonight! The family headed to the Fest of the LK while I headed to Kila Safari to get fast passes for everyone as the wait was showing at 65 minutes. We did FOTLK as my 6yo loves Elephants. In fact, he's the reason we went to AK for this trip. After the LK it was time for our FP @ safari. FP lane took about 20 minutes as everyone is now following the 1 hour rule. After that we headed to EE to get a FP. Standby was showing at 40 min, which isn't bad for middle of the day. We then went to Nemo as I went and got FP for Dinosaur as well (45 minute standby time). Yes, I know you're thinking that you can't get 2 at a time... Hold on skippy, only 3 of us were going on EE and Dinosaur and we had 6 park tix.

After Nemo it was time for Dinosaur. One thing I noticed while in Nemo was that they found a way to stick in Tebow during the show! It was what Dory called Nemo one time as she was trying to remember his nme. Very funny... To me at least. Sorry, that was my squirrel!moment. While we did Dinosaur (which was now only a 10 minute wait w/o FP), my mom watched the 2 scaredy cats play in the Boneyard. After that we did EE. Someone gave us a FP then we used ours so we got to ride it twice. This was the first time my 6yo had been on it and of course he loved it... He's Mini Me.

Kali RR was down so we decided to go to dinner since the park would be closing soon. We went to Yak and Yeti for the first time and we really enjoyed it. Of course strawberry margaritas were had... After dinner it was about 7:15 and the sun was almost down, but we checked on Kali RR anyway and it was back up and running! It was me, my 9yo, my 6yo AND my 4yo. My 4yo was SO excited to be tall enough that she told every CM that she was a big girl! Of course, she had to sit next to me since she was so small, which meant that she got soaked. Never sit next to me on a boat ride unless you want to get wet (isn't that right Amy??). We were so cold so we headed out of he park and back to the hotel.

When we got back we decided to swim a little before bed... Bad idea as it was a little chilly and breezy, but it didn't matter as it felt great on the legs! Now I'm busy Working on this trip report before I get into Draw Something and pass out from exhaustion. Got to rest up for day 2... EPCOT F&G and MK!

Warning, there will not be many pics from this trip as my wife's camera has been acting up since it was dropped a couple of weeks ago. But I'll do what I can... Eventually.

Len, I saw one of the new buses that they are testing right now. If I see it again tomorrow, I will take a pic of it for you.

Margarita count: 3 (with San Angel booked tomorrow, this number should increase rapidly! Stay Tuned!

[NaCler]

Baby... It's 3am, I must be lonely...

3am update... It must be another Disney Day... why else would I be up at 3am in the most magical place ever? Oh yeah, it could be the sick 6yo in bed next to me. He has a hacking cough that just will not stop. My poor boy. Wish us luck that we all can get some sleep tonight and that he gets better so that he can enjoy the day tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

[Amy]

Oh no, a sickly child at WDW I hope he feels much better once he wakes up. And that you can get some rest with his coughing! Give him some extra oj for breakfast ~ a little extra vitamin C is always good...
Sounds like you had a great first day. Always a good feeling when the traffic flow brings you to the front gates without any problems.
That sandwich from Pop sounds good (minus the feta). We've found the food at the All Stars to be ok. Not fantastic food that you rave about, but pretty tasty and fairly consistent.
Glad you put that in there about the FP. I was wondering how you were getting FP for two attractions at once! Sounds like the enforcement of FP times is working out ok and perhaps equalizing the wait times somewhat.
How fun for your kids to have the chance to go on a few attractions for the first time. Not sure what you mean about getting wet when sitting next to you. I got far wetter sitting behind mindflipper
Fun that Finding Nemo finds ways to keep current during their shows. I'm sure it is more fun for the actors and actresses to inject a bit of fresh humor into the show and also it gives a little something extra to the parents who are watching.
Not many pictures Oh well, you will have to paint us the pictures with words instead. Looking forward to hearing about the F&G festival at EPCOT and if there are any more firsts for your kids on the attractions You won't be able to experience those firsts much longer if you keep going so often
Yay for real time reporting!! Now get some sleep young man

[DisneyYorkie]

Baby... It's 3am, I must be lonely...

3am update... It must be another Disney Day... why else would I be up at 3am in the most magical place ever? Oh yeah, it could be the sick 6yo in bed next to me. He has a hacking cough that just will not stop. My poor boy. Wish us luck that we all can get some sleep tonight and that he gets better so that he can enjoy the day tomorrow. *fingers crossed*

NaCler....hope your little one feels better soon and that you get some sleep!

[NaCler]

Thanks Amy and DisneyYorkie. We are getting ready for a busy day and my 6yo is up and full of energy. Not so sure about me though. His cough subsided about 4am. So, a little sleep was had by all. My wonderful wife ran to the front and bought some Robitussin at an inflated price and some cough drops. Just one more day!

We should get some good F&G pics as there is plenty of natural lighting for her camera to work.

[DisneyYorkie]

Thanks Amy and DisneyYorkie. We are getting ready for a busy day and my 6yo is up and full of energy. Not so sure about me though. His cough subsided about 4am. So, a little sleep was had by all. My wonderful wife ran to the front and bought some Robitussin at an inflated price and some cough drops. Just one more day!

We should get some good F&G pics as there is plenty of natural lighting for her camera to work.

Have a great day! I too have wondered WDW armed with Robitussin and Tylenol with my children (now 15 and 21!)! We will be there in Epcot in just about 3 weeks!!!

[mindflipper]

Not sure what you mean about getting wet when sitting next to you. I got far wetter sitting behind mindflipper :

Well at least you will have a story you can tell for the rest of your life! Geesh, I get no credit for giving you an unforgettable ride experience.

NaCler: as for dogsitting, it's probably a no-can-do. You would have to get the cat to agree to it, and she insists that the house is already too small for just one pet - so no additional pets, even temporary. Already she wants to kill the neighbor's cat that wants to hang around our house all the time...

[NaCler]

Ok, it was brought to my attention that I had not finished a trip report from my New Years Eve trip. While I cannot possibly remember it all, I can give the high/low points and maybe influence anyone who might be thinking about a possible New Years trip for this year...

Players: Mom and I (Wife and 3 kids were in Maryland visiting family for a week)
Place we stayed: Caribbean Beach - Martinique Building. Here is a shot at dusk:


Day 1 - Friday Afternoon/Evening - December 30 - We checked in about 12:30 and the room was ready for us. We decided to go ahead and go to DTD for lunch since we were planning on being out until 3am at the Magic Kingdom. We ate at Fulton's, which is steadily becoming one of our favorite lunch hangouts. Dad loved their Stone Crab claws and it's kind of nice keeping the tradition going now that he is gone. We also had a strawberry margarita or two, but they just are not as good as the ones in EPCOT. We went back to our room and got ready to head to the MK. We figured the MK would be a mad house on NYE, so we though we would go ahead and get it done. We were expecting to wait on a bus, but surprsingly we did not wait longer than 5 minutes for a bus... the WHOLE trip! Transportation could not have been better! Anyways, the MK was not anymore crowded than it usually is on Summer days. Standard wait times applied, i.e. 30 min for Buzz, 45 min for Space Mountain, about 20 for Splash, 5 for Pirates... Walking around we noticed a bunch of these lit signs marking the exits:

They had the usual Electrical Light Parade and did the Holiday version of Wishes/MM&Y shows. However, we were very happy to see that they were doing the NYE fireworks that night as a preview/test. A thing that I really enjoyed during the night was that they played "club type" music throughout the park. The CM's and park guests really seemed to like it as they were singing/dancing throughout the night. It was nice singing Sweet Caroline with CM's waiting for the ELP.

I think I already posted the MK fireworks show, but I will find it and post it again. It was awesome. They had the 10 second countdown inside the fireworks. I had never seen anything like it before. I think we lasted until about 1:30am until we decided we had done everything we wanted to, so we left the park. Once again not waiting longer than 5 minutes on a bus and even got a seat.

Day 2 - Saturday - New Years Eve
We started out at Hollywood Studios, because we did not want to stay at a park all day. The plan was to start at DHS, then swim at CB then go to EPCOT for the evening. We headed straight to TSMM, but it was already posting a 60 minute wait and the line backed up all the way to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids Play area! We went over to Muppets and were 2 of about 20 total people in the theater. We then headed to the Great Movie Ride and managed to get the Western scene. For anyone who has not seen it, here are two pics:



We did the Backlot Tour which I have not done in MANY years and got this nice shot:


We did the Sci-Fi Dine In for lunch then headed to the CB for swimming. There were many activities planned for the pool through the day:


We got a little worried that the parks would close due to capacity if we didn't get out to EPCOT, so we got to the park about 4pm. You could tell the crowd was up at that point. Here is the grassy area near the busses at EPCOT:

Those are CM cars that are parked in overflow parking.

Here are your wait times:


YES, that is a 4 HOUR wait for Test Track!
Here is the scene outside of Stupid Judy about 5pm:
This is signage around EPCOT:
Here is the view from the Mexico Pavillion about 7pm (after about an hour and a half of hanging out in La Cava Del Tequila!):


Mom and I waiting in line at Spaceship Earth, maybe about a 20 minute wait:


Here was the exit by the Norway Pavilion which went backstage to get to World Showcase:


This one is very hard to see as it had the lighted sign pointing the way, but in the background is Test Track backstage and a mini EPCOT ball that is back there as well:


Here is the amazing fireworks display. It was very crowded at this time, but what do you expect on NYE in the most magical place on earth?

We were out of the park, on a bus (sitting down again) and back into our hotel room by 1am! It was AMAZING!!!

I would HIGHLY recommend trying out New Years Eve to anyone who has ever though about doing it. We may even do it again this year. I can only hope!!!

I know it was a condensed Trip Report but I hope you enjoyed it anyway!

[MmeLeota]

Nice little trip report from NYE, NaCler. I agree about NYE Disney style...we did DL one year, but we decided that DCA would have been slightly better since it wasn't so crowded. But we were only so crowded because we wated to be in front of the castle...it probably wouldn't have been as bad elsewhere in the park either.
We'd love to do WDW at NYE, but it's difficult with a hubby who works retail.

[Amy]

Yay for delayed trip reports! I can't believe those wait times!! And the crowds!!!
Gorgeous picture from the CB resort. Love the water reflection
We haven't seen the cowboy scene for so long in the Great Movie Ride. Is the cowboy on the right in your photo a AA?
Nice that they opened up some alternative routes for walking. Always fun to get a peek backstage
What is your little Vinylmation figure? Was it special for New Year's Eve?

[MmeLeota]

Ah yes...I forgot to mention that. I love that picture of CBR at dusk!!!! Such a beautiful and colorful property.