Kim, DH & Friends- November 2007

A Special Thanksgving

A little background, DH - Bill (43) and Kim (42) a.k.a. me, are more or less Disney nuts. We live in SC about 8 hours from the gates, we've held annual passes for as long as I can remember, and last year we finally did what we should have done years ago and bought DVC. Our last trip was in October 07 for the Food and Wine Festival with our dear Disney friends sans kids. Our next trip wasn't planned until February which is an annual trip to Ft. Wilderness with several families.

On with the story, I started a new job earlier this month and quickly found out I had a four day weekend for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately DH owns his own business and is usually open on Black Friday, so I had resigned myself to a quiet Thanksgiving with DH and our DS (19+) and working at my husbands business Friday and Saturday. Well, as luck would have it things quickly changed as they often do here. Earlier this week, DS informed us he was spending Thanksgiving with friends, and the guys that work for my husband all wanted a four day weekend to spend with their families. So as DH and I were having lunch on Wednesday he had decided to close the shop let the guys take a long weekend and take a break himself. "I think we should take off for the weekend" he says, "where do you want to go?" To which I replied "Is there anywhere but one destination?" He laughed instantly knowing I meant Disney. "We'll never get a room this weekend; it's one of the busiest weekends of the year!" he says. I asked "If I can get us a room, can we go?" He tried valiantly to protest, but submitted that if I indeed could get us a room he would consider it. I quickly contacted Deb @ The Magic For Less.com, who had pulled out small miracles for me in the past, and although DVC had nothing for me, Deb was able to find us not one, not two, not three, but four different choices! His options laid out if front of him, he shrugged, and said it was up to me! "Book Coronado Springs Please", I asked Deb. Within minutes I had a confirmed room for Thanksgiving Weekend at noon the day before! Thank you DEB - you absolutely are the best travel agent ever!!!!!! A quick call to Disney Dining (having asked Deb enough for one day), and unbelievably I grabbed ADR's for Artists Point for Friday evening.

Day ONE

Fast forward to Thursday morning, November 22nd it is Thanksgiving Day! The alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. and after throwing some clothes, lanyards and annual passes in a bag and grabbing a few cups of coffee we hit the road at 6:30 a.m. Traffic was light as we drove through to Southern Georgia where we stopped at a Cracker Barrel around 11:30 a.m. and had a very yummy and traditional Thanksgiving Dinner. 12:45 and we're back on the road to Florida and we arrived at Coronado Springs around 3:15, not bad at all. As promised, a King Sized Room in Casitas 3 (Room 3111) was waiting for us. Now I've stayed at Coronado Springs several times, and it was never my favorite, but I've never stayed in this section before. The gardens, gazebos and topiaries were everywhere, and a side bonus for me, designated smoking areas were plentiful and convenient. It was also just a very short walk to the Pepper Market. I have a whole new appreciation for the beauty of this resort. After checking out our room and surroundings we hopped back in the car and headed for Animal Kingdom. I printed my Tour Guide Mike Thanksgiving weekend survival guide before we left, so knew where to be and where not to be - Thank you Tour Guide Mike!!

We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 4:15 and too impatient to wait for the tram we walked to the gait (you'll see this is a trend for us). We were here - unbelievable! The park was decorated for Christmas, and anticipation was plentiful in the air. We walked through the turnstiles, and half way up the hill, we met a lovely elderly couple who had been lucky recipients of golden fast passes that day, and had not used them, and would we like them? Would we? Oh my! The magic greeted us at the gate! We headed down to Africa and the Dawa Bar for a quick libation to shake off the road and watch the fantastic Jamin Jingle Jungle Parade. We had missed the last Safari, so off to Everest we go, straight to the head of the line, Primevil Whirl was next, and some walking through the park. We were lucky again and were able to get 5:30 reservations at the Yak and Yeti! IT was awesome! I even found a hidden Mickey while we were there. We walked the park after dark and it was very beautiful and romantic, and headed back to Coronado Springs for a good nights sleep.

DAY TWO

Friday, November 23, 2007 - We awoke (okay I awoke) at 6:15 Friday morning, and let DH sleep for oh I don't 15 minutes (just till the coffee was ready), then off to an 8:00 a.m. opening of the Magic Kingdom. We drove to the Ticket and Transportation Center, and too excited to wait on the tram we walked to the Monorail, just as they closed the doors. Rats! The cast member informed us the next monorail would arrive in 3:00 minutes. Hey, we're first in line! "Can we ride up front?" I asked. "Sure, just step over here beyond the yellow line." More Disney magic, my arrival to the Magic Kingdom included a front seat ride on the Monorail! (This is why I get "too excited to sleep"). We arrived at MK at exactly 8:00 a.m. and had already missed the opening celebration, so straight through the "no bags" line (no kids = no bags :-) ) and through the Turnstiles, and there it is, the Christmas decorations, main street, welcoming cast members, the smell of fresh baked cookies, and most importantly, my beloved castle!

We headed straight to Space Mountain, grabbed fast passes, stopped for a coffee and turn tail to ride the Jungle Cruise. DH loves this ride, and it has been closed the last several times we've ventured to the Magic Kingdom. Ben was our skipper and after unsuccessfully trying to obtain my coffee from me, we were off. The boat contained DH, me, and a family of 3. Poor Captain Ben if DH and I had not been aboard, I believe his corny jokes would have been completely unappreciated. It was early however, and we'll just assume the other family was not awake enough to catch the wonderfully corny puns. Pirates of the Caribbean was next and after a too brief visit with the ever so handsome Captain Jack Sparrow (my favorite pirate), we were off to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, a stop for a Disney Chocolate Chip Muffin, then the newly revamped Haunted Mansion, and Pooh's Honey Pot, back into tomorrow land and a spin on the Tomorrow Land Transit Authority (always the people mover to me), and it was time for our 10:20 ride on Space Mountain (or the giggle ride, as DH calls it, as I always laugh uncontrollably when we ride). As we exited Space Mountain, the Magic Kingdom was filling quickly, so we did a quick trip through the shops and exited the Magic Kingdom through a mass of arrivals via buss, ferry and monorail. I had not ridden the ferry since I was 8 years old and came to Disney for the first time with my parents, so we hopped aboard for a pleasant cruise across the seven seas lagoon to our car.

We were ready for lunch by the time we reached the car, and DH had some packages he had to ship for work, so we headed off property (which I HATE DOING), only to find the local post office was closed, we grabbed a quick but filling lunch at Cici's pizza. Taking the best advice of any well seasoned Disney traveler we headed back to Coronado Springs for a power nap. Refreshed, but not ready to take on the parks on such a busy day, we headed out to Fantasia Gardens for 18 holes of the most unbelievably hard miniature golf we have ever played. There are two courses, here. One is short and full of characters and fun (takes about 30 minutes), the other according to the cast member there is the longest and most difficult miniature golf course anywhere, figuring the longer, more difficult course would be less crowded we opted in that direction. Long story short, my luck versus DH's skill were almost an equal match on this course, he beat me by only one stroke! LOL, he and the father of a 10 year old girl playing the course directly behind us commiserated each time we met up. I believe the 10 year old beat her Dad!

Remember those ADR's? It's time to get back to the resort to shower and change for our romantic dinner out. We arrived at Wilderness Lodge a little early, so we had time to watch a team of very talented women play Christmas Carols with hand held bells. Very nice! The lodge was full of activity, the rockers were turned away from the fireplace to provide a nice view of the Christmas show, children were on the floor with the life guards playing board games and coloring, parents and grandparents were relaxed and lounging in the overstuffed chairs with libations reminiscing about their adventures of the day. It was a genuinely festive place to be. DH and I strolled the shop and the great lobby for a bit, and finally went and checked in at Artists Pointe for our 8:30 dinner reservation. Others arrived after us and we're told there were no available seatings until 9:30 - boy am I glad I made ADR's. After a not so brief wait, we were seated at a lovely table near the windows. We ordered the seared ahi tuna as an appetizer, and I could not resist, and ordered the buffalo as my entree with the wine pairing (it was delicious); DH had the scallops and raved about them as well. It was a very pleasant evening! Back to Coronado Springs for a good nights sleep.

DAY THREE

Saturday, November 24th. I again awoke at 6:15 a.m., made coffee and woke DH. Today's plan was Epcot but it didn't open until 9:00 a.m., so after a brief breakfast in the Pepper Market, we found ourselves at 7:45 a.m. wondering what to do. Against Tour Guide Mike's advice we thought we might be able to get in a quick ride on Rockin Roller Coaster as it was an Extra Magic Morning for resort guests at MGM and it was after all right down the street. We arrived at MGM a tad bit after 8:00 a.m., we're parked by the attendants in what I believe was the farthest lot, and walked (again too impatient to wait on the tram) to the gate. (My legs are beginning to protest). Through the turnstiles, a right onto Sunset Blvd, and down to Rock n Roller Coaster. It looked like it does at 10:00 a.m. in July! Oh my! Fast Pass return was already for 12:30!!!!!! So much for that idea, about face and off to Epcot we go. I won't doubt you again Tour Guide Mike!

Back in the car, and off we go. We arrive at Epcot and once again they are parking us in a lot I have never even seen, it is so frequently unused, that the road and parking lot sprayed dirt over the car as we drove. What a crowd they must be expecting! I believe we were in Imagine 63 at 8:40 a.m. We once again hoofed it across the parking lot and through the no bag line to the turnstiles. As official park opening was not until 9:00 a.m. we were stopped at the rope at pin central. The characters came out to greet everyone while we waited and soon it was on to the countdown 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (Did I mention I love this place?) and the foot race (walk don't run and stay behind the cast members) is on to Soarin'. We went straight in line, and we're in the 3rd group to ride that morning. We spoke with 3 women from the UK who were just delightful, and had never ridden Soarin' before, so when we got to the front of the line DH ask the cast member if our party of 5 could be seated in Section B! (If you have not ridden Soarin this is the best seating area). The cast member was very accommodating and our now party of 5 was in line in Section B row 2 for Soarin' Our new friends from the UK found Soarin' to be just "Brilliant" and asked us to pose for pictures with them after the ride, as they wanted to have some pictures of their vacation with some "real Americans". :-) We all stopped for fast passes for a return ride later in the day, said our goodbyes and parted ways. DH and I stopped for a quick call to his parents (who love to hear from us when we are Disney, and hear where we are and what we are doing). We head over to Test Track to check the single rider line to find it is already 30 minutes, and the standby is 70!!!! Eeeek..... Okay, Mouse Gears for a wee bit of shopping, and on to the countries at 11:00.

Now for anyone who has been to Disney in the off season (which is when we usually go) I'm sure you can not even imagine this, but we were in line at Mexico for the rope drop to ride the updated Gran Fiesta Tour boat ride. I wouldn't have even dreamed there would be a line to enter the Mexico pavilion! But there it was. We took our ride, and found the updates to be very welcome! I did enjoy it more than in the past. The Holidays around the World began this week, and the Candlelight Processional as well. We spent the next couple of hours eating our way around the world and spotting the different Santa's in each country. We split an order of Egg Rolls in China, a beer and a hot dog in the Americas, Fish N Chips in the UK, and then headed back to Future World. A quick "Green Line" Spin on Mission Space, and back to Soarin for our afternoon ride. We stopped at Sunshine Seasons in the land to appease my sweet tooth with a piece of carrot cake large enough for 3 people! We took our Carrot Cake and headed outside, we stopped near Nemo so I could eat my cake (yes, I ate it all!) and DH to stop again and call Mom and Dad. The legs are really starting to yelp at this point, so we do what good Disney tourists always do and head out for an afternoon break. Back to the resort for a brief rest, and then off to Downtown Disney to the AMC Theater to watch Enchanted - What a Great Movie - even DH loved it! This is a great way to cool off, relax and chill out on an 83 degree day in November! After our movie we walked around the West Side a bit and stopped in Virgin Music for some very difficult to find CD's and headed back to Epcot.

When we arrived in Epcot this time, it was 5:45ish and the regular lots were open, so we drove up to the front and parked in the 2nd row right behind the bus stops. Awesome!!! We were fortunate enough to catch the end of the Tree Lighting Ceremony and the lighting of the Winter Lights as we headed for World Showcase. This was an unexpected bit of Magic for me, as I just love the stage shows! We walked the countries again, at least until we got to the America's Pavilion where DH decided he wanted a Turkey Leg, and I headed down to Italy for a Mocha Iced Cappuccino - (yum). I returned quickly to find DH still waiting in line, when I spot the choir for the Candlelight Processional lining up. I can not begin to tell you how excited I got; I had forgotten that it was going on! DH and I once again had Pixie Dust sprinkled on us, and a spot right at the rope opened up in front of us and we were able to watch the entire show unfettered. It was very beautiful, very moving, and I am not one to tear up or cry at the drop of a hat, but found myself wiping moisture from my eyes several times throughout the show. If you are going to be at Epcot during the holidays, I would easily say this is a "Do Not Miss"!

The plan had been to stay for Illuminations (DH favorite thing Disney), but given the size of the crowds, the screaming from our legs, and the early morning that awaited us we opted for an early evening and said goodnight to Epcot at approximately 8:45 headed back to the resort. The Incredibles was on TV, and somewhere before it was over, I fell fast asleep.

DAY FOUR

Sunday, November 25th, the alarm is going off at 5:00 a.m. It's time to say Goodbye to Disney for this trip. We've had a wonderful unexpected romantic weekend away and even during the busiest seasons Disney does not fail to deliver the Magic! We arrived home at 2:15 this afternoon, and I'm already beginning to alter the plan for February! If you made it this long, thanks for hanging in there and letting me share with you the magic of my Thanksgiving Weekend.!