"Duck, Duck, Brown Anole!" The Newlyweds Visit Disney World...Again! 1/23/12-1/31/12

[DisneyKira]

Welcome to my TR! For those of you that did not follow my PTR, here is a little introduction.

My husband and I got married May 15, 2011. We left for our Disneymoon the next day. There is a link to that TR in my siggie.

My husband is the internet manager at a car dealership and I am a grooming assistant (AKA doggie bather) at a Petco grooming salon.

We currently live with two ball pythons (we just adopted a second one a few days ago), two corn snakes, a leopard gecko, a pacman frog, a russian tortoise, a cat, and a pacific giant salamander (who is currently not feeling very well). Here are some photos of our little zoo.

We live in western Washington State, which is usually very wet.

The week before we left for our January 2012 trip, we had a very nasty snow and ice storm. Which meant we were leaving this:

For this:

We were very pleased with the change . But more on that later...

For those of you following me from my PTR, sorry for the wait. I had to go to work the day after we got home. We landed at about 11:40 on 1/31/12 and I had to go to work from 1pm-9pm on 2/1/12 . Then I had a full week of work, a busy weekend, and another (not-so-full) week of work. Thanks to a new policy at work stating that I do not have to go in to work if I don't have any dogs scheduled, I have the day off. So I thought I would get my TR started today.

 

[dizneeat]

I am here, Kira!

 

[DisneyKira]

Reserved for chapters

 

[DisneyKira]

I am here, Kira!

Welcome!

 

[DisneyKira]

I had to work until 7pm the night before our flight. DH and I stopped at target on our way home from work to pick up a few last minute things. Then we headed home to finish packing. The next morning, my mother gave us a ride to the airport. Our trip through the TSA checkpoint was pretty uneventful, but I did see an elderly woman receive a pat down. For some bizarre reason, she had lifted her shirt up (exposing her bra). I felt really bad for her. I wonder what kind of security threat she posed...

Anyway, we got through the checkpoint with plenty of time to spare. I bought a plate of biscuits and gravy. I also bought a little snack pack for the plane. It had salami in it . Josh wasn't hungry, so he just played on his laptop while I ate.

This was our first time flying southwest. I was a little confused by the numbers on the tickets. At first I thought that everyone was split up into "A" and "B" groups and then split up in half again. I thought one half lined up on the left side and the other on the right side. I didn't realize that the numbers on the tickets were on the individual metal poles. So when we lined up, we got in the back of the "second half" of the A group instead of the front of the second half (which is where we were supposed to be). It didn't really matter, thought, because the plane was pretty empty. We ended up getting an entire row to ourselves!

Our flight had a layover in New Mexico. We were both hungry and decided to get some lunch. Well, the food in the Albuquerque airport is expensive! A "regular" quiznos sub was like 8 dollars! I ended up buying Panda express, which seemed to have the least inflated prices. Josh got some nachos at the booth next to Panda Express. Sorry, no pictures.

So I apologize for the lack of pictures in this update. I did manage to take a picture out the window of our second flight.

Just before we were about to land, the most amazing thing happened. I have always wanted to see Disney World from our plane, but I have always been on the wrong side. As we were descending, I looked out the window and saw fireworks...and a castle! I quickly realized that it was 9pm. Time for Wishes! I got to watch a large chunk of the show from our plane. A perfect beginning to our trip

We landed in Orlando and went straight to baggage claim. I usually use the magical express bag service but they only sent us one tag (I originally thought that I may have lost the second one but more on that later). I decided to avoid the bag service and just get our own bags. Honestly, it was so much easier than waiting all night for our bags! We didn't wait more than 10 minutes or so. After we gathered up our luggage we headed towards Magical Express. We were in the wrong section, so we had to go back up the elevator, past the disney store, and back down the escalator to the ME area. When we got there, I went to the counter.

Here is why I only got one ME bag ticket. For some reason, our magical express reservation only had my DH's name on it! They didn't list me as a second person. The CM looked up our resort ressie, saw that we had two people in our party, and quickly printed us out a new ME ticket with both of our names on it. Problem solved . Oh, and we did get a REAL ME bus. Not an ugly Mears shuttle.

When we arrived at Pop Century, we were greeted with bubbles and a CM with a mickey glove. She said "Welcome home!" and sent us to the check-in desk with huge smiles on our faces. We got our room keys (the 90s section) and headed to our room. Here are a few picture of the room.

DH was hungry so we headed to the food court for some food. We were on the DDP (the one with QS and TS credits). As most of you probably know, the refillable mugs are now included in all of the dining plans. So we picked out our mugs. I "paid" for them while DH got his food. A burger, cheese fries, and a water bottle.

Mmmm....disney cheese

He didn't want his dessert, so I asked him to get me...a tie-dye cheesecake!

I was surprised by how much I liked it. I was expecting it to taste funny. But it was really good! I had to resist the urge to eat all of it by myself. So I packed it in my bag and saved the rest of it for later. As though I hadn't loaded myself up with enough sugar, I walked over to the petals pool bar while DH was eating and ordered myself my first Disney drink. A pina colava!

It was pretty good. I thought it was a little too sweet. But I enjoyed it.

After dinner we decided to go to the pool. Our room was on the first floor right next to the computer pool

We splashed around for a bit before heading back to the room for a quick shower. I snapped one last picture that night.

Minnie Toes! See the not-so-hidden mickey? And yes, my feet are that huge

After unpacking a few things, we got ready for bed. We had a lot planned for the next day!

 

[dizneeat]

Your toes look awesome!

Seems like you had a pretty nice travel day. We have never used ME, so it's always interesting to hear about it.
Your room at Pop looks pretty nice and so does your dinner!

Great start to your trip report.

 

[ronnmel]

I'm here! Going straight back to work after a vacation sucks, but how else would we pay for the next Disney trip?

We have always gotten our own bags at the airport and I do not find it difficult at all. Maybe I'll say a different thing when I'm traveling with young kids, but as a couple it usually goes really fast.

The 90s is not my favorite location at POP, but sounds like you enjoyed it! I hope being right in front of the pool did not get too noisy.

 

[MelMel11]

Count me in!!!

 

[KatMark]

Kira, I'm here. We were at a wrestling tournament all Friday night and all day Saturday until 9 p.m. and I am just catching up on the DIS.

Love the intro (I just love your wedding photos) and the picture from on the plane. And your Minnie toes are adorable.

Looking forward to more.

 

[danimaroo]

I'm here, too! We narrowly escaped that terrible storm here in Seattle (we were supposed to leave on the 18th, the day it began, but left a day early because we didn't want to not make it to Disney!), but then we were there the same time you were!

Looking forward to more!

 

[shocky5]

I'm here! And all caught up on your TR. Now your mom's I'm certain will be a different story!

But love your travel day update and your Minnie toes are so cute!!! I always paint my daughters like that when we go! I'm so boring with my own!

Glad getting your bags worked out for you!

 

[Queila]

Signing up. LOVE the pedicure.

Q

 

[DisneyKira]

Signing up. LOVE the pedicure.

Q

Thank you and welcome!

I'm here! And all caught up on your TR. Now your mom's I'm certain will be a different story!

But love your travel day update and your Minnie toes are so cute!!! I always paint my daughters like that when we go! I'm so boring with my own!

Glad getting your bags worked out for you!

Haha! Yeah, I have trouble keeping up with my mom's TR, too (I lurk on hers, she lurks on mine).

I was going to paint my fingernails like that, too. But I got done with the red base coat on one hand and decided the red was just too bright for my fingernails.

I'm here, too! We narrowly escaped that terrible storm here in Seattle (we were supposed to leave on the 18th, the day it began, but left a day early because we didn't want to not make it to Disney!), but then we were there the same time you were!

Looking forward to more!

Wow. So you didn't get to experience the storm at all? I bet you had fun coming home and seeing all the fallen trees. Crazy, right? My coworker was calling it "Treemagedon" and "The Toppling"

Kira, I'm here. We were at a wrestling tournament all Friday night and all day Saturday until 9 p.m. and I am just catching up on the DIS.

Love the intro (I just love your wedding photos) and the picture from on the plane. And your Minnie toes are adorable.

Looking forward to more.

Thank you and welcome! I love that first picture. Can you tell? I use it in like every intro

Count me in!!!

Yay! Welcome!

I'm here! Going straight back to work after a vacation sucks, but how else would we pay for the next Disney trip?

We have always gotten our own bags at the airport and I do not find it difficult at all. Maybe I'll say a different thing when I'm traveling with young kids, but as a couple it usually goes really fast.

The 90s is not my favorite location at POP, but sounds like you enjoyed it! I hope being right in front of the pool did not get too noisy.

I noticed that without a little one in tow, it is very easy to get your bags. We just had our carry ons and one bag each. When we traveled with my little sister, we always had a stroller. In the really old days, we also had a car seat to lug around. Not to mention my sister's bags that she (obviously) didn't carry. Which makes it feel like you have several extra bags to carry, plus the stroller, and the little one. No wonder people use the ME luggage service!

I liked the 90s building. I was surprised by how quiet our room was. Now if we were right next to the hippy dippy pool, I am sure that would be another story.

Your toes look awesome!

Seems like you had a pretty nice travel day. We have never used ME, so it's always interesting to hear about it.
Your room at Pop looks pretty nice and so does your dinner!

Great start to your trip report.

Thanks! It was very yummy. I love disney cheese I didn't try the burger, but it looked good!

 

[DisneyKira]

Day 1, Part 1: Disney Snail!

I didn't sleep very well the first night. I think it had to do with the lack of a warm furry cat at my feet. Dib sleeps with Josh and I every night at home, and it was weird sleeping without him. Despite my lack of sleep, I got up at 7am sharp and got ready for the day. I "woke" Josh up after I got out of the shower, just like I do at home. It usually takes a few tries to get him up, so I start early . Eventually, he got ready and we headed to the bus stop.

We were off to the Magic Kingdom!

We must have caught one of the first busses to the MK, because we were at the front of the turnstile. No one was in front of us! I took a quick picture for evidence.

See? No one in front of us!

A photo of Josh waiting at the turnstile.

They opened the turnstiles about 30 minutes before the park opened. We wandered all the way over to the left, so that we could be right in front of the tunnel but still see the show. As we watched people load into the park, Josh commented on how crowded it was getting. I wish I had snapped a picture of the LACK of people in the front area. When we went in May, it was shoulder-to-shoulder. On this day, there was plenty of space between families.

I people-watched for a bit. There was an older lady who wedged herself between the tunnel and the plants. She brought out a little book and started praying. Then there was a group of people (obviously from another country) who had brought a carry-on luggage bag. Once they found their spot (not too far from us), they started frantically unloading food from their luggage as though the park was going to open any minute. But we still had another 20 minutes or so. I snapped a picture of the sign while we were waiting.

There still weren't that many people in the area, so I decided to wander over to the shop. I looked at the Disney stuff for a few minutes, then wandered back over to Josh. The crowds were so light that I was able to walk from the tunnel to the shop with minimal people-dodging. Mostly, I just had to walk around the family with the luggage.

We waited for a little bit before the rope drop ceremony started up. They were having trouble with the speakers, so the CM had to shout over all of the people to announce that Mickey was coming. I was surprised at how quiet everyone got when he started talking. The lack of people did help. But it was still nice to see that many people following instructions .

I was sad that the rope drop ceremony didn't have any music, but at least we got to see Mickey. After the ceremony was over, we headed to Fantasyland.

We started out with the tea cups.

Then headed to Snow White.

After that we did Peter Pan, Small World, Philharmonic, and Winnie the Pooh. We finished up everything in Fantasyland except for the carousel in...1 hour! I love ridemax!

We decided to skip the carousel because the line was a little longer than we liked. From there, we walked over to Space Mountain to grab FPs. But the wait was less than 20 minutes, so we decided to just walk on. I think we went on it a few times but I can't really remember. When we were done with Space Mountain we decided that we needed to get some food. On the way, we saw a snail and just HAD to take pictures of it.

I have a whole sequence of pictures where the snail slowly comes out of his shell

So after we met Mr. Snail, we continued our way towards one of Josh's favorite Disney foods...the Turkey Leg! Unfortunatly, the turkey leg stand wasn't open yet. So we went shopping for a bit (we bought nothing) and then we went to the Tiki Room.

I liked the new updated Tiki Room. Josh wasn't impressed (although he had never seen the version with Iago). After singing like the birdies sing, we headed back into Frontierland for our Turkey Leg. Once we got it, we went into Pecos Bill. Josh grabbed a few waters while I grabbed us a seat.

For the majority of the time we were eating, we had to listen to a very loud tantrum. From a boy that looked to be about 8 or 9 years old. The boy was screaming in a different language and throwing things around. In between the kid chucking things across the table, the mom would pick him up and cradle him like an infant (I am not joking. She was rocking him back and forth on his back). Now, I am normally pretty tolerant of tantrums (both from kids and adults because let's face it, I have had my share of tantrums, too). But this one was making both Josh and I very upset. The tantrum went on for at least 20 minutes before the mom finally removed the child from the restaurant. Our turkey leg was almost gone by the time the kid was gone. While he was throwing his fit, I kept thinking "we should go somewhere else...but I am sure he will stop soon. Or at least the mom will take him out". But she didn't. Honestly, even if we had moved to another location within Pecos Bill, we still would have heard the child's screaming. Nine-year-olds have big lungs! I think we should have taken our Turkey Leg and gone away...far away . But we didn't. Oh, well.

After our lunch, we had to work off the turkey leg. We decided to go to Tom Sawyer's Island for a walk and some good old fashioned critter hunting!

Now for those of you who read my honeymoon TR, you might remember that Josh never caught a brown anole. He managed to catch several on the island. Here are a few pictures of one that he caught.

And here is a picture of another one.

They were all over the island. But we were hoping to find something a little more interesting than a brown anole. Unfortunately, all we saw were ducks, brown anoles, and squirrels.

It was getting a little hot and we were both a little sleepy, so we headed back to the hotel for a nap. We took the long way from the bus stop to the room, so we were able to see the Art of Animation resort. Here are a few pictures:

After that we headed back to the room for a nice little nap

 

[dizneeat]

Great update, Kira! I love all the photos! And I can so relate to not being able to sleep in on your first day ..... we miss our cat too and have to fight the time change as well.

 

[DisneyKira]

Great update, Kira! I love all the photos! And I can so relate to not being able to sleep in on your first day ..... we miss our cat too and have to fight the time change as well.

Yeah. The time change isn't much fun, either. Although you would think it would make it easier for me to sleep in because 7am in FL=4am in WA

 

[dizneeat]

Yeah. The time change isn't much fun, either. Although you would think it would make it easier for me to sleep in because 7am in FL=4am in WA

I completely missed the fact that our time change is the opposite of yours ...... we are 6 hours ahead, so 6am Orlando is noon for us!

 

[ronnmel]

What? The rope drop show without music is so sad!

Wow, you guys did a lot in your first hour!

Seriously, rocking an 8-9 y.o.? I would not tolerate a tantrum like this for 20 minutes. If just removing him from the situation didn't work, I'd be dragging him kicking and screaming back to the room!

 

[Aussiesalad]

Woah you guys really powered through Fantasyland!

Excited to hear about this trip and all the advenures

 

[DisneyKira]

I completely missed the fact that our time change is the opposite of yours ...... we are 6 hours ahead, so 6am Orlando is noon for us!

Wow. And I thought I had a big time difference!

What? The rope drop show without music is so sad!

Wow, you guys did a lot in your first hour!

Seriously, rocking an 8-9 y.o.? I would not tolerate a tantrum like this for 20 minutes. If just removing him from the situation didn't work, I'd be dragging him kicking and screaming back to the room!

Yeah, I was sad that we missed the music. But I get to hear it all the time on the Disney radio, so I wasn't too disappointed.

As for that kid, DH and I agree. We think he may have been "special needs". Still, mom should have taken him out of the restaurant earlier in his fit. I don't know what happened after they left, but I hope that the mom took him back to the hotel for a nap (or a good old fashioned time out).

Woah you guys really powered through Fantasyland!

Excited to hear about this trip and all the advenures

The park was pretty dead and the weather was great, so we had a real easy time hoping from ride to ride. Fantasyland is so fun when it is empty