ADP - Live From Disney World

[ADP]

Wednesday, April 2nd

Preliminary Trip Report

Hi Everyone -

Jambo! - I've decided to post a live trip report here on the DIS Unplugged board because I feel I've been fortunate enough over the past year to get to know many of you. You've shared so many experiences with me I would like to share some with you. Oh! And as crazy as it may seem I enjoy writing live reports. Don't ask me why but I do. Maybe because it helps me reflect on our trip along the way, but nevertheless I will be here for the next 8 days writing about our adventures.

So here I sit in blustery Central Indiana awaiting tomorrow, April 3rd. Spring Break has arrived at DD7s school system and soon we will be off to Balmy Orlando for 8 days and 7 nights of fun with Mickey and pals. And don't forget Buzz, Woody...You know those Pixar characters who crashed the Disney party about 2 years ago.

Our Family -
Me ADP Aaron
Kim - Wife
Anna - Daughter (celebrating her 8th B-Day)

I hope you will be able to follow along these next 8 days with me as I give you our daily adventures and dining experiences from the parks and resort; pictures included.

We will be staying at 2 resorts during our trip. We are DVC members, but will not be staying on points the first 3 nights. I've booked a standard room at AKL with an AP discount and the Dining Plan. We will then move over to Old Key West for the last 4 nights of our vacation using DVC points.

This trip will mark 2 new firsts for our family. It will be the first time we've used Magical Express and relied only on Disney transportation. We've always rented a car during our previous trips. It will also be the first time we've used the Disney Dining Plan. I always thought the Dining Plan provided too much food for guests; however, I believe everything is worth a try at least once.

Here are the table service restaurants where we will be dining at during the week:
Chef Mickey's - Dinner (No 7:00AM Breakfasts for me)!
Tusker House - Dinner
Sci Fi Dine-In - Dinner
Tutto Italia - Dinner
Ohana - Breakfast
Kona Cafe - Dinner
One more table service to be named later.

I should also note that prior to our trip I was on a strict diet. Its been a wild ride over the past 4 months but I managed to shed nearly 50 pounds and 4 waist sizes from my physich. The one thing you will not hear me say on this trip is "I'm watching what I eat". Sorry, but I'm on vacation! This pilgramage to Disney World will not see me cut calories; especially on the Dining Plan. The diet thing can wait until I get back! "Hey! Can you pass me that Dole Whip"!

We have a tradition in our household that one week prior to our trip to Orlando we create a countdown calendar. Each day DD7 puts a sticker on the calendar noting we are one day closer to our departure. It creates additional excitement prior to our trip....Yea, right, like we need anymore excitement!

As you can tell we are pretty well packed and ready to go. "Hey! Where's the suitcase!!!"

Anna is excited and ready to roll!

I'll post daily updates mostly at night while everything is fresh in my cranium, but sometimes I might post in the morning before heading out to the parks. I hope you enjoy this report as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.

Tomorrow's Adventure -
Arrival
Anna's 8th Birthday
AKL Check-In
The Magic Kingdom
A Trip to a Disney Salon
Dinner @ Chef Mickeys

 

[scarlett873]

Ooooh!! I hope you guys all have a great time!!!

Will be watching your live trip report!!

 

[3DisneyKids]

Just joining your trip report, Aaron! Best wishes for a safe journey tomorrow!

 

[wilde_oscar]

Good Luck with the all new game show, PodCast Spotting. The rules are...

• Catch and release.
  
• Look but no touching.
  
• Keep the screaming to a minimum.
  
• No flash photography... well no photography at all (unless it is BawB).

Be sure to check in for clues on who might be in the park on what days?

 

[LMO429]

Looking forward to hearing more!

Congrats on the weight loss!!!

 

[Tonya2426]

Can't wait for the trip to start!!!!!!
If I can't be at the World the next best thing is a vicarious trip on the DIS.

 

[beachwarmer]

I love, love, love these live reports.

Have a safe trip tomorrow and I look forward to vacationing with you the next few days.


Here is some pixie dust that you have a magical time.

 

[alaskanmommy]

Totally subscribing ADP!! Have a wonderful trip! I'm soooo jealous, we have to wait until late November for our trip!! I'm glad you're including some dining reviews!! I love food porn!! Happy Birthday to your DD!! Here's to a memorable trip!! And watch out for that WildeOscar, I hear he's a stalker!!

 

[daneenm]

Have a great trip! Looking forward to updates.

--Daneen

 

[Joan S.]

Hi, Have a GREAT trip! And to your DD! Cannot wait to read your LIVE reports. Joan

 

[cslittle999]

Sounds like a great trip. I'm interested in your ME experience. We're planning a short trip in October and this will be our first time flying down. I doubt we'll rent a car but I'm torn between a town car and ME.

 

[ShesAPirate]

Have a great time - I'll be reading along.

And big congrats on your weight loss! I take the same stance when I go to Disney -- all bets are off. The walking burns off most of the calories, anyway

 

[MousekaMaddi]

see ya real soon...... I hope

 

[DebbieT11]

Have fun, ADP!

 

[happy2go2wdwmom]

Awaiting any and all details, the good, bad, or ugly---though hoping it is 100% MAGICAL for you (no details are too small!)---what a cutsie princess (or pirate) your DD is!!! I hope you enjoy the DDP and you have a nice plan for your meals.

Keep us posted.

Subscribing,
Another Hooosier, who now lives in VA, retiring in Fla.!

 

[hayanyujah847]

Very cool! I don't think I have ever read a LIVE trip report before. I will definitely be keeping up. Have fun!!!

 

[tinkbutt]

can't wait for the live feed!!!!!! have fun

 

[PrincessBelle39]

Have a great trip. Can't wait to read your next installment.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Have a great time Aaron and family! We're having fun at DLR and saw the most awesome fireworks last night...

I also had a member of the Dream Squad take pity on me while I was being the "pack mule" for my family and she gave me two Tink pins. It was a nice surprise.

Safe travels!

 

[ADP]

Thursday, April 3rd

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. We made it! I was going to post when we got here today, but I was having a little trouble with the High Speed Internet. Now that I've got it corrected on with todays report.

We arrived at Indianapolis International at approximately 8:30AM. The weather was supposed to turn ugly later in the day, so we were very anxious to get off the ground ASAP. As it turns out the first hour of our flight was rather bumpy, but tollerable. the last 50 minutes was smooth.

Kim and Anna were excited to be at the airport.

At Indy

At Orlando

Its really amazing we can be in to different places so quickly.

After we landed we headed straight for the Magical Express check-in desk. I must say I was impressed with the speed of DME. After a 5 minute wait in line I checked-in in less than 90 seconds. The nice CM said to head for the red carpet. What?! Red carpet? What is this the Oscars?! So we headed for the red carpet where we were greeted by another cast member who asked us what resort? We replied AKL and he said line 3 please. Once we got to the line we were called by a DME driver who said "right this way". Our bus was waiting...Awesome!


Our bus had to make 3 resort stops. Unfortunately, our resort was last. First was Pop Century, second was CSR, and third was AKL.

The bus we rode was a Disney Cruise Line bus. It was very nice and spacious. I could actually stretch out which was a nice change of pace from the plane.

Now onto my only DME complaint. The bus was moving very, very slow. I don't think we broke 45MPH the entire trip while on the Greenway. Once I looked out the window and saw a turtle keeping pace with us. Total trip time from the airport to AKL was 50 minutes. Considering we were the last stop it wasn't too bad.

I'd give DME a 7.5 out of 10. My only complaint was the slow speed of the bus and we had a bus driver who was in training. Eveything else went well. Our bags were in our room waiting for us when we returned from the Contemporary.

Check-in at AKL went pretty smooth. We did not have to wait at all for a CM. During the check-in process the CM presented Anna with a birthday card signed by her favorite princess and a birthday button to wear to the MK.

After the CM gave us our room number she sent us on a safari. She gave us directions to our room which seemed odd, but I followed the directions. Come to find out later all we had to do was walk down the steps in the back of the lobby to the second floor and take a left. This was much, much easier. We received an obstructed savanna view room on the Kudu Trail; which was fine by us since we paid for a standard room. Here's the view from our room.

So on we went to the AKL bus depot to head to the MK. This got interesting. The bus was at the depot when we arrived. We hopped on the bus and were the only passengers. One minute later a mother and son jump on the bus and tells the bus driver her husband is in the bathroom and we need to wait for him. The bus driver was ready to pull away before she jumped on. I'm sorry, but why should we have to wait for someone else's breakfast movement...LOL? So we waited about 7 minutes before he finally shows up. I should have asked him if he was feeling ok.

Once we arrived at the MK we were a bit hungry, but since Chef Mickey's was a little later we decided to keep it light with treats from the Main Street Ice Cream parlor. We found a great spot at the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station in the shade and enjoyed our root beer floats and rainbow sherbert.

Our treats!

We then headed for Tomorrowland and rode the TTA. We then experienced the Laugh Floor. The MK was crowded today. Getting on headliner attractions would have been tough. Here's the midway between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.

It was now 5:00PM and we needed to get over to the Grand Floridian as we had made a hair appointment for Anna. Since today was her B-Day we let her get her hair braded. The salon at the GF is called Ivy Trellis. They've done Anna's hair before and did a wonderful job. This experience was no exception. Here are a few shots of the appointment with before and after photos.

Before

After

Shampoo

Once we finished up at Ivy Trellis we headed for the monorail to go to the Contemporary. Our reservation for chef Mickey's was for 7:15. We had some time to kill so we wandered in the game room. At 7:00 we checked-in at the front desk. After our photo with the plate and silverware we waited for 10 minutes before getting seated. I must say the food at the buffet was very delicious. I was very impressed with the prime rib, so much so I had to have another piece. It may have been the best I've ever had.

Prime Rib!! Yum!

Serivce was a bit above average but not spectacular. We had to ask for refills a couple times and our server seemed rushed. The characters did pretty well with Anna since it was her B-Day. They did give Anna a cute placemat for her birthday she got to keep.

After we stuffed oursleves like wild pigs we left the Contemporary and took the walking path to the MK bus depot. We waited about 10 minutes for the AKL bus to arrive. We came back to our room to a close-up view of 2 giraffes eating leaves off a tree right near our balcony. It was a perfect end to a wonderful day!

Here are a few more photos from our day.

Pirate Mickey in front of the MK

Share a Dream Come True Parade

Glass blower MK Glass Shop

Marshmellow Rice Krispy treats in the MK Confectionary

New YOMD Signage

Up Next:
Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom Lodge Pool
Dinner @ Tusker House
Victoria Falls