Reporting from Disney World July 2010

[cousininmiami]

Well, here we are the morning of day 5 here in Walt Disney World! We are here not only to go to the parks, but are here for the big Rawlings Baseball tournament at the ESPN Wide World of Sports with my 14-year old baseball player!

Their team so far is 1 win and two losses. Sounds bad but one of the losses was a great game and close, a great game and a win, and a not so good game yesterday, big loss! We played a team from the Dominican Republic, let's just say the players had full mustaches... not too many 14-year old have mustaches! Oh well, just pool play right now, one more game tomorrow morning in pool play then we are seeded for the single elimination to begin Thursday morning.

Considering there are about 80 baseball teams in the tournament, 14 players on each team, and all staying at the All-Star resort??? You can do the math and see the not so relaxing time we would have, so we let our Son stay in a room with 4 other boys (I'll describe the smell in the room later on) so my husband and I decided to get a nice room in the Buena Vista Palace over looking Downtown Disney! Wow, good choice for us!

So, on to the parks! Every day the games have been luckily scheduled for 8:00am, so each day we have gone to a park for the remainder of the day. Last Friday night arrived from our 4 hour drive from Miami and we settled in and went to Downtown Disney. Our Son stayed at the All-Star with his team and we had a great time for the evening. Was surprised to see that "Pleasure Island" was busy with people eating and drinking, as was all of Downtown Disney. We ended up going to Paradisio 37. A Latin style restaurant with everything from Cuban food to Mexican food, it was very good. We sat outside on the patio, had dinner and margaritas, and were surprised to see fireworks off in the distance at 9:00pm. Because we are staying right across the street from Downtown Disney, we can just walk over. So had that extra Margarita, with no worry of driving then walked back to the hotel to get a little sleep before our next day... 4th of July! I will write some more later! Gotta go.. getting the look!

[wewantsdaredhead]

Keep it coming! (The reporting, not the margaritas )

[boilerbabe]

How exciting! Looking forward to reading more of trip report!!!

[Amy]

Glad your son is having fun with the games, and that the games are scheduled so early allowing you to play the rest of the day in the parks! Smart move getting a different hotel room...your son probably enjoys having a little freedom as well

[cousininmiami]

OMG, so much been going on! More baseball games, and parks every day! I last left it at only the first night arrival! Either I am going to have to not be so long winded, or speed it up a bit. I have taken hours of video and probably 800 pictures already! But right now have just gotten back to the room from a very long day so I will keep it quick.

Today the day started off with another baseball game ( go figure), and another loss But on the bright side, my Son is 8 for 13 at the plate, and is doing amazing at shortstop. We are seeded now, and single elimination starts tomorrow at 9:00.

Then we went with the whole team and parents to Typhoon Lagoon around noon. Haven't been there in years, it was just as I remember it and a lot of fun. My husband says you know you're getting old when you would rather sit at the bar and sip a Mai Tai rather than ride the water slides! Funny, huh? But that Mai Tai was awesome and I took a lot of pictures in the process!

So, then we left around 4 pm took a quick shower at the hotel and left for where else... Magic Kingdom! Did the same thing we always do, go to the Poly, tell the guard we are eating at the Ohana, (just a little fib), park in the parking lot and hop on the resort Monorail to the Park! (My little trick) . Got in to the park and had a relaxing time walking around, had ANOTHER Dole Whip yummmmmmmmmmmm, and rode on the Mark Twain big boat around the rivers of America! At 7:30, I picked a place in Frontierland to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade (1 1/2 hours early), my husband thought I was nuts! But we sat, talked and relaxed to wait for the parade to start. It finally started and got to us around 9:15pm, and it was sooo special! Just like I remembered it, awesome! Then we moved to the castle area to watch the fireworks, they were great as usual, always a wonderful end to a day! Because there was a second parade at 11pm, the park stayed open so we decide to go to the TTA (Peoplemover) and let the crowds die down! Love the Peoplemover! Then we went on back to the hotel around 10:30... walked back down Main Street, wow, so magical at night, hoped on the resort Monorail and now it's 12:20 am back in the room! Gotta go to bed... write more tomorrow! TTFN!

[elizabethswann]

Great report there! I'm looking forward to the photos!

[Mr.ToadWildRider]

Did the same thing we always do, go to the Poly, tell the guard we are eating at the Ohana, (just a little fib), park in the parking lot and hop on the resort Monorail to the Park! (My little trick) .

Great report! About this ^^ though, I thought that they had a time stamp on visitor passes? Aren't that only good for a few hours?

[Jacca5660]

Great report!! I love the view!

[Amy]

Did the same thing we always do, go to the Poly, tell the guard we are eating at the Ohana, (just a little fib), park in the parking lot and hop on the resort Monorail to the Park! (My little trick) .

Great report! About this ^^ though, I thought that they had a time stamp on visitor passes? Aren't that only good for a few hours?

Interesting...I wondered about that myself...

[cousininmiami]

Hey all! Will do more trip report a little later. But the answer to the parking at the Poly question is there is no guest or visitors pass, and no time limit. If we go in the morning we say we are going to the Ohana for breakfast, if going in afternoon or evening we say dinner. Never any questions, no problems. But my favorite TIP of The Day is, go to the Poly, then turn into the right hand parking lot going all the way towards the TTC... park your car then walk to the TTC and get on the EPCOT Monorail! The Monorail that goes to EPCOT is awesome! First of all it is a looooong trip, so lots of fun there, then when you get to EPCOT, you go through Future World! At the end of the day simply take the EPCOT Monorail back to the TTC, and walk back to your car at the Poly! Another added bonus is that you don't pay for parking at the Magic Kingdom or EPCOT. This has been my trick for years, but it's a secret... so don't tell anyone shhhhhhhhh ok?

And an Extra Extra added bonus is pop into Capt'n Cooks and get a Dole Whip at the Poly when on the way to or from anywhere!


So, been a long day... just back into the room from leaving at 8:00 am and now it's 10:30 pm. Going to shower, pour a glass of wine and see if I can write more! TTFN...

[boilerbabe]

Really enjoying your trip report! I love the Poly pic. and you just had to rub in that Dole Whip, didn't ya?!

[Amy]

Really enjoying your trip report! I love the Poly pic. and you just had to rub in that Dole Whip, didn't ya?!

She does seem to be having quite a few of them Maybe she is savoring a few for you BB!

[boilerbabe]

Really enjoying your trip report! I love the Poly pic. and you just had to rub in that Dole Whip, didn't ya?!

She does seem to be having quite a few of them Maybe she is savoring a few for you BB!

I sure hope so! I'm mousekedrooling now just thinking about a Dole Whip!

[cousininmiami]

Hey all, back home! I have 1252 pictures and hours of movies! I am staring at a mountain of wash and I am exhausted... will do a bunch of trip reporting and pictures later on and tomorrow.

[Amy]

Hey all, back home! I have 1252 pictures and hours of movies! I am staring at a mountain of wash and I am exhausted... will do a bunch of trip reporting and pictures later on and tomorrow.

laundry after vacation is never fun At least you know you can come to the computer and work with lovely WDW photos and a trip report while in-between cycles