My Walt Disney World Trip Report(s) (with pictures)

Alright... this is my first trip report. Not my most enjoyable trip, for reasons that I'll explain in a bit, but the only time I've taken lots of pictures, so I'll start now.
Day NIGHT 1

This is my first time in a long time going to Orlando with my mom. Now, there are a few reasons why I don't do this:

* She's slow-walking

* I don't want to say she's stupid, but she doesn't learn from past mistakes and refuses to listen to reason. Last time we went she refused to get ready the night before, insisting that it would be fine. We ended up leaving FOUR HOURS later than we were supposed to, and whenever I told her we needed to hurry up (she does unnecessary things like trying on every outfit she owns before picking one to wear, putting on tons of makeup, and calling every person she knows.), she yelled at me. Anyway, this time I kept reminding her that she needed to get ready before. Now, THIS is her logic:

ME: Mom, you NEED to pack in advance, remember last time?

Mom: it'll be fine this time.

We left two and a half hours later than we should have, and she felt the need to stop constantly for food, bathroom breaks, and naps. We left at six, and got there at 12. IT'S ONLY A TWO AND A HALF HOUR DRIVE.

* Same thing applied to the parks. I told her we needed to get there before it opened since it was a VERY busy week. her reply? "It'll be fine this time."

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The Portofino Bay Hotel

ANYWAY, we recently got a new dog. Mom doesn't feel like leaving him with anyone, so we bring him(and one other to keep him company. we have four dogs)... but Disney hotels don't take dogs, so we stayed at Universal's Portofino Bay. It's a nice hotel, but we didn't go to any Universal parks this trip. Disney needs to allow dogs in some hotels.

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Kiba and Anya

Anyway, not much to say here, we got there late, ordered some room service and went to bed.

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Kiba


DAY 2


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Bird be chillin'.
We woke up later than expected, had to walk the dogs, then as quickly as we could left for Animal Kingdom. We got there at 11 and headed for the big white thing that everyone's been talking about.

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Matterhorn 2: Bigger, Badder, and Uncut
First thing that called my attention was a shrine to the yeti.

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THE YETI IS YOUR GOD NOW.

There were no more fastpasses and the queue was 80 minutes. Well, I hopped on.

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Or else.
I wish a few more parts of the queue were indoors, it was a hot day. I took the time to scratch my name into a bamboo chute... most of the good ones were already taken, though. (I couldn't get a clear picture)

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Word.
We went into the indoor part, where I took a pic of the hidden Mickey.

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I can see you.
Then into the museum where there was a painting,

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Chewbacca?
a statue,

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Yep.
some photos,

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Some kids in the line thought these were real... and not LITTLE kids, either.
(heres a close-up of the creepy Yeti),

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Yeep.

Some busted-up junk,

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Guess he's an ANGRY Yeti.

and some more busted-up junk.

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Oh joy.

Then we did Dinosaur and left to walk the dogs, but never got out again that night. However, I did get some cool souvenirs, like a Yeti doll,

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Graar.

a shirt,

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The yeti's got mad skillz.

and a hat and little traincar.

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That's my hat for pickin' up chicks.

Oh, and a Stitch doll that does the hula. The first day was kind of a letdown, since we only did two rides, but Expedition Everest made the day well worth it. More to come soon.

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He's actually got a quite impressive range of motion.

Great pictures, love the trip report. :)

Yes...Disney needs to allow dogs in a few of its rooms. We have two dogs that go nuts when we travel anywhere and leave them for more than three days. I worked for a Loews hotel, and what a great service to allow guest the chance to have their dog with them when the stay. Charge me the extra $50 a day.

Nice pics! Let's me know what I can expect when I go.

Awww you got the Hula Stitch! I remember turning on like three of them and doing the Hula with them. Lots of people gave me weird looks.

yay! Thank you for sharing! :) Love all the pictures and fun captions too!!

Thanks for the trip report and pics! Cool that you got to share your room with Ewoks. ;)

Day 3

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I'd like to see Tiger Woods take on THIS baby.
Well, off to Epcot. When I was little, I thought this place was boring as all heck, but now I like it a lot. Except for Innoventions. And Mission Space (I haven't done it and I never will, not so much 'cause of the two deaths, but 'cause of claustrophobia). We got there at about 9-10 and hadn't eaten yet, so we went over to the Land.


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I like character dining 'cause I get to have my picture taken with 'em without having to wait in a line and looking like a loser.


The restaurant in The Land (I think it's called the Garden Grill) is interesting. It doesn't really have a menu... they ask if you have any allergies, then they bring out a platter (with everything except what you're allergic to) and if you like something in particular, you can ask for more of it.

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Mom doesn't know the difference between Chip and Dale. (This is Dale)


My mom used her uncanny ability to get us into things without having to wait on line (I have NO IDEA how she does this... on our first time riding The Revenge of the Mummy, we happened to meet a castmember that was going on break and she took us through an employees-only area and got us right on with no wait. However, after riding, mom thought the ride was evil and started praying for our salvation...), so we got into the restaurant without wait.


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Pluto attempted to eat my head.


The food's excellent, by the way, so I'd recommend it. It's pretty healthy, too.


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I have no life.


It's also got character dining, as I'm sure you could tell. But in addition, the floor rotates slowly (Kinda like the Space Needle) and you can look off the sides to see part of the Living with the Land boat ride (too dark for pics, sorry).

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Dale came by again.


We got on line for Soarin', which claimed to have a 120-minute wait. HOWEVER, the wait is never as long as it says it is, and we ended up waiting around 45 minutes.


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Pluto's a bit bigger than in the cartoons.


Unfortunately, there's not much theming in the queue and it can get dull. There are some video monitors that give environmental facts and trivia (apparently all the rainforests could disappear in the next 40 years), but that's about it.


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Howdy.


There was an Australian family there (gotta love those accents, mate) who was on their first trip to Disney world, so I was giving them tips on what they should see, what they should miss, good places to eat, good attractions for the kids, and, of course, to eat at the Brown Derby so they can get priority seating for Fantasmic (if they still do that). They were a bit nervous about being lifted 40(I think?) feet in the air for Soarin', but they went on and enjoyed it. It was my third time, but I'm still amazed.


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Da Fountain.


We looked around but everything had a long wait. Well, except Journey to Imagination, which I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. I know the second one wasn't popular, but I liked that one the best. Why? As much as I liked Figment, I didn't mind as long as he made a cameo and the ride had cool effects. But now, most of these effects seem to have beentoned-down (or they just didn't work right when I went), everything's been painted like a 60's bong hallucination, and FIGMENT NEVER SHUTS THE HECK UP. I liked the last two versions best.

Well, anyway, we went back to the hotel to take care of the dogs. That night we went to Magic Kingdom, which I'll talk about in my next post. But till then... souvenirs!

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Steamboat Willie Bobblehead.

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LOL.

Also, not pictured, are Mulan on DVD, A Musical History of Disneyland (A six-cd set with almost every song and sound ever heard in Disneyland, as well as a book about the sounds of Disneyland and a reproduction of the original Walt Disney Takes you to Disneyland: A Musical Tour of the Magic Kingdom vinyl record.), and two books about Imagineering.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mitsukai

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I have no life.

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:lmao: Thumbs up to self-deprecating humor! :thumbup:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mitsukai

We left at six, and got there at 12. IT'S ONLY A TWO AND A HALF HOUR DRIVE.

---

I am so sorry. :(

I prefer the leave at 3:30 am, get there at 7:30 am when it is a 4:45 hour drive. ;)

Cool pics and great report...cant wait for the rest of it...lovin ur mickey bobblhead!!!!

Day 3 Continued: Magic Kingdom


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Man, I wish I knew this guy.


Thank you so, so much, Walt. After a quick moment of silence at the "Partners" statue, we rushed over to Mickey's PhilharMagic. (Can someone please explain the title to me?)


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Nice to see that it's not a birthday cake this time.


PhilharMagic is easily the greatest 3D show at any Disney park (with Muppetvision 34D a close second.). Basically, Mickey's running late for a concert, and leaves his sorcerer's hat at the conductor's podium. Donald tries it on and accidentally opens up a portal to other Disney worlds. He ends up in the middle of Be Our Guest, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Part of Their World, I just can't wait to be King, We can Fly, and A Whole new World (though I'm not sure of the order) before Mickey saves him. Only problem I have with it was that Mickey's hardly even in it, and you don't get a very close look at him.


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A cool little fountain in Tony's.


Next, we went back to Main Street USA. We had reservations for Tony's, an italian restaurant with a Lady and the Tramp theme.


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A rather blatant Hidden Mickey.


We sat outside and had a perfect view of the Spectromagic parade. It made me miss the old Electro-light Parade, and those little light-up-doll-children still scare the living bejeezus out of me.


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Mickey rubs a ball. Wait, what?


After the parade ended, we went to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority. I don't know why this is fun, but it is.


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Inside Space Mountain...


Nearing the end of the ride, "Wishes" started. We headed into Fantasyland to watch. It's probably one of their best fireworks shows yet.


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BOOM! POW!


Next, I decided to test my masculinity by attempting to walk by Pooh's house without going in.


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Must... Resist...


By the time I got close enough to take a picture of Piglet, I had already lost.


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Looks delicious.


On top of that, I used the TINY door.


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I've got a rumbly in my tumbly, time for something sweet!


I snapped a pic of the Nautilus carving when I noticed a small boy clinging to my leg. I dunno if he was scared of the fireworks or not, but he was excitedly yelling "LOOK! LOOK!" while alternating between running outside and running back inside to cling to me again.


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I went on 20k as a small child, so unfortunately my memories of it are limited.


After getting fastpasses for Winnie the Pooh, we went on Snow White's Scary Adventures.


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Spooky.

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Ahh.


Kinda cheaply-done, but also a throwback to those cheesy carnival rides.


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Aww.


Next we went over to the Haunted Mansion. It's one of my favorite rides, a mix of eerieness and macabre humor. But it seems like every time I go on, the ride stops at least once. This time, we got stuck facing a blank wall a few feet away from the ballroom. Bummer.


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They thought my camera flash was witchcraft.


Next: Pirates of the Carribean. I expected it to be closed. The castmembers said they had done most of the backstage work already and would re-close it in May. Now, I've never done the Disneyland version. I hear that while the WDW queue blows Disneyland's away, the Disneyland version is longer. I don't see why they couldn't make this one just as long, but oh well... at least I get my pirate fix in some form. Well, then we went over to the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.


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The wonderful thing about Tiggers is that I'm the only one! Hoohoohoo!


You wouldn't expect it but it's actually a very fun ride.


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And the rain rain rain comes down down down...


We went on twice.


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Oh bother.


After that we went on Stitch's Great Escape. Meh. It's decent at best. The only reason I think it's alright is 'cause I like Stitch. If you want to sit in hard seats, get spit on, have things jam into your shoulders, sit there in total darkness, and then smell a rancid chilidog go ahead. Anyway, after that we went back to the hotel and left the next morning. Now, as usual, souvenirs!


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Poofy Tigger.


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You'd best start believin' in ghost stories, Miss Turner... you're in one!


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You need to get yourself a girl, mate.

Not pictured are the Emperor's New Groove on DVD, a Mickey and Minnie DVD, a Walt Disney biography DVD, the Haunted Mansion: From the Magic Kingdom to the Movies book, and a Tigger shirt. Well, that's all for this trip report. I'll be up there for six weeks during the summer for filmmaking class at MGM Studios, so you can bet I'll have plenty to talk about!

I love the hula Stitch.

BTW, he's funnier to watch from the back.

How much money do you take on these vacations huh? You buy half the Emporium each day!

Well I usually don't get anything, but this time I couldn't help myself. I mighta went overboard.