Originally Posted By melissa_m Our first trip: Members of our group were me, Melissa, the official planner. (I also earned the nickname of “the task master†by my loving husband.) My husband, Edwin. Our two boys, Connor, age 9, and Tyler, age 5. And last but not least, my Mom and Dad. I have wanted to take a trip to WDW forever. Edwin told me a few years ago that we could consider going once Tyler got a little older so maybe he would remember a little of it, and so we wouldn’t have to deal with diapers and strollers. So, last year, last November to be exact, I proposed the WDW vacation again to my hubby, so we (I) would have one entire year to plan. He said OK, so the planning started. Finally, a year passed and we were off!!! By the way, I hope I do not bore anyone silly, but this is my first trip report! We left central Louisiana on Nov. 19th at 2:30 am. Yes, 2:30. Leaving that early was my Dad’s and Edwin’s idea, so who was I to argue? After all, I was excited. We made good time until we stopped at a Cracker Barrel in Pascagoula, MS. They messed up my parent’s order and ended up spending an hour and a half there. Way too long. Anyhow, we were off again. We stopped a little more often than we liked because we were trying to travel together. Finally, after 16 long hours in the car, we made it to Orlando. It was dark and rainy, and we were starting to get a little grumpy, but when we actually entered Disney, that all changed! We found our resort, Shades of Green, and got checked in. The resort was very pretty and the rooms were very clean and large. I would recommend this resort to anyone who is eligible to stay there. They have these awesome, super deep bath tubs that I loved! Anyway, we made us each a sandwich and went outside to walk around a bit. We finally settled in after the reality hit that we were actually at Disney, and planned for our first full day there. Day one: Sunday, Nov. 20th- Animal Kingdom. We woke up bright and early and had breakfast in our room. We headed downstairs to catch the bus. The busses at SOG ran like clockwork. The only thing I didn’t care for is that they didn’t start running until 8:30am, and I originally wanted to be at the park waiting for it to open at that time. We got through the gates and baggage check a few minutes after 9:00 and headed straight to Africa. On the way we had our pics taken with Flick and took some pics of the Tree of Life. Simply amazing. We waited in line for Kilimanjaro Safari about 20 minutes. We really liked it, but there wasn’t very many animals out, so I was just slightly disappointed. Then we went over to the Pangani Forest Trails. The gorillas were very neat to watch, and there were more of them than I had expectd. I would have liked to have spent more time there, but the boys were starting to complain that they were getting hungry, and it was a crowded area, so we decided it was time for lunch. We headed over to the Flame Tree BBQ. We had a really yummy lunch there. My parents each had the ribs, my hubby had the ½ chicken, I had the beef sandwich, and the boys had the kids meal with the wings. We all ate every bit of our food because it was so good. I thought it was reasonably priced too- a family of 4 ate a really good lunch for $28. My mom finally decided that she needed to get a wheel chair because her knees were starting to hurt her. My dad and I tried to talk her into getting one when we first entered the park but she wanted to “wait and see how her knees do.†So, my dad and I made the trek back to the wheel chair rental. We met the rest of the family at Dinoland, where Edwin and the boys were playing in the Boneyard. They were really enjoying themselves. Edwin, Connor, and my Dad rode Prime Evil whirl with a short wait. Tyler ended up riding Triceratop Spin about 3 times. I grabbed us some fast passes for Dinosaur, while they were riding Prime evil whirl, then it started to rain. So, I broke out the el-cheapo ponchos that I bought at Wal-Mart before we left and stayed fairly dry. After the rain it got hot and humid, and my hair completely freaked out. I named this vacation “the vacation of bad hair days.†Edwin, Connor, and myself rode Dinosaur while Tyler waited with my parents. I was afraid it would scare him, and I sure didn’t want to do that on our very first day and traumatize him. With the fastpasses, we practically walked right on. We thought this ride was awesome! I felt really sorry for some of the little kids though, because they were really scared. After our ride ended, I rode again with my Dad and Connor. We walked right on again. My dad said he had never seen anything like it and was impressed. By the way, Expedition Everest looks like it will be awesome. It looks like a real mountain. We headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey, where it started to rain again. And again. And some more. We stayed in line though and got pics and autographs with the bears from Brother Bear, Goofy and Donald, Mickey and Minnie. This took up quite a bit of our time, but it was important to the boys so we did it. We looked all wet in our pics. We went to see Pocahontas, but it was just the training show. We grabbed an ice cream snack…those Mickey premium bars are delicious, yum! Next we saw Festival of the Lion King, Wow! This was a wonderful show! Definitely a must see. It far exceeded my expectations. After that we headed over to see ITTBAB. Tyler is scared of bugs, so my dad took him back to Dinoland. This show was sooo cute! After the show, we headed back to get Dad and Tyler, and realized that we hadn’t even seen Asia yet. My parents found a spot to rest, and we headed over to Asia, only to find that it was closing. Maharaja Jungle Trek was already closed, and Kali River Rapids was about to close. So, we headed to the front of the park to leave. On our way out, we had the boys pic taken with Baloo. We had to wait about 45 min. for our bus back to SOG because it only ran once on hour. I was very surprised that we spent an entire day here, and didn’t even see Asia. My plan was to head over to MGM to see Fantasmic, but it was raining off and on, so I decided not too. We got back to the SOG and ordered a pizza delivered to our room from Evergreen’s, the sports bar. It was good and didn’t take long to get there. We were all really tired, so took showers and hit the hay. Hi Lites: Dinosaur, Festival of the Lion King, ITTBAB. Lo Lites: the rain, hot ponchos, sinus issues
Originally Posted By melissa_m No, we missed the parade. I don't remember where we were in the park during the time of the parade, but we didn't even catch a glimpse of it. Well, actually it just occured to me that it was raining a good bit that afternoon, so maybe they cancel when it rains? One of these days I'll get around to writing the rest of my trip report
Originally Posted By Labuda Great report, melissa! Thanks for shring it with us! And, I'm desperately hoping to talk my oldest brother into a trip to WDW one of these years so I can see the inside of Shades of Green! hehe
Originally Posted By melissa_m Labuda- SOG really is a nice place. The only other hotel we went inside was the Poly, and it's a little downscale compared to it, but we really enjoyed our stay there. There was a gorgeous waterfall in the entryway. We were very happy having large rooms for the four of us. I want to go back sooooo bad!!! I think I'm going to start planning for Thanksgiving 2007
Originally Posted By wam0418 Good report Melissa.. I enjoyed it.. Its amazing how fast a day goes by. Thats the bad part about the animal kingdom..it closes to early. I like the gorillas over there to. There amazing for sure. Well cant wait for your day 2 report.
