JoAnn's Trip Report 11/11/11 - 11/18/11

Reflections - I love the Christmas decorations as Disney World.

Thanks Lizzy

Day 6
Back to the Magic Kingdom today. The longest wait for a ride of the entire trip was for the Dumbo ride this morning. We then rode Snow White's Scary Adventure and Peter Pan's Flight (this was the first time my friends rode these rides). We enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic before heading over to Tomorrowland for another first, this time for me. I finally rode Space Mountain. My first two visits to the Magic Kingdom were before I found out how cool roller coasters are. Last year, it was closed for refurbishment.

From Tomorrowland, we headed over to Adventureland for Dole Whip. We then rode The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, went to the Enchanted Tiki Room and rode Pirates of the Caribbean.

On our way of the Magic Kingdom, we stopped to watch the Move It!, Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party.

Since I had canceled my dinner reservation at Tony's on Saturday night, I stopped in to take a picture of the Lady and the Tramp statue in the center of the restaurant.

While I was in the neighborhood, I had to stop in to see Mickey. As luck would have it, Minnie was there too.

We left the Magic Kingdom and rode the Monorail to catch a bus to DHS. This was the first time my friends had ridden the Monorail. It was a day of firsts. The first ride we went on was the Tower of Terror (yep, that was first for me).

I couldn't find the thread where someone said the Directory was no longer there. Is the Directory they were talking about? Or was it something else?

Before heading to the Brown Derby for a late lunch / early dinner (Fantastic Dinner Package), we rode the Rock 'N' Roller Coaster.

Even though the lobby was packed, we only waited a few minutes for our table at the Brown Derby. Dinner was fantastic as always. We even had a dinner show. I didn't hear the whole exchange between one of the customers and the waitress but apparently she wasn't happy about waiting an hour for a table. I did hear her call the waitress a stupid "B" twice. The manager came out to resolve the situation. We didn't stick around to see what happened.

One of my friends wasn't feeling well, so she went back to the resort. My other friend and I had some time before Fantasmic so we went to the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

Now, I know why they say to go early for Fantasmic. It seemed to take forever to get there. But so worth the walk. I loved the show.

Ok. thanks Jess

I got the times for Ms DeVine from Mase's character listing

Day 7

I was looking forward to this day all week. Breakfast at the Kona Cafe and Tonga Toast! We took the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then rode the boat to the Poly. We were early for our reservation and got seated right away. I loved the Tonga Toast.

We had a little issue with our dining plans this morning. At most restaurants, the servers asked to see our Key to the World cards so they can see what plan we had, so we told them at that time we were on separate plans (I had my own and my friends were on the same plan). Our waitress didn't ask us that morning and we didn't think to let her know until she brought the check over. We apologized for not letting her know up front and she told us not to worry that she would take care of it. She brought our cards over and gave them to my friend. She had my card with their check and their card with mine. We switched them and that's when I noticed they took my meal off of their plan and not mine. The waitress got it corrected and we left cash for our mimosas and tip.

Here are a few pictures of the Poly for scrappy and mrhub.

After walking around the Poly, we took the Monorail to the Grand Floridian. I wanted my friends to see the Gingerbread house. The Christmas tree had been put up since I was there the on Friday.

Back on the Monorail to the TTC to catch the Monorail to Epcot. The Christmas decorations were up.

One of my favorite attractions at Epcot is the miniature village in Germany.

Lunch was in Italy today at Via Napoli. I was very tired that day. While sitting in the restaurant I was freezing. I went outside while we were waiting for our meals to try to warm up. The restaurant was in the shade so it didn't help much. The meal was really good. I love the names of the wood fired ovens.

After lunch we went back to Pop to relax by the pool. We had a fun time looking through our high school yearbooks that I brought with me.

We had dinner reservations at the Crystal Palace that night. While we were waiting to get our bags checked, my friend said to me "isn't that the lady from the Brown Derby?" I looked and said that it wasn't. Then I heard the voice and turned around even further. There she was arguing with the security guy at the gate.

We got into the Magic Kingdom and the Main Street Electrical Parade had just started. We were trying to figure out the best route to the Crystal Palace, so we stopped into Guest Services to see if they had any suggestions. Just as we suspected, we had to wait for the parade to pass. She did assure us they will hold the reservation (which was for 7:15). Guess who was there arguing with another cast member? She was not a happy lady.

We finally made our way to CP. Dinner was good. There was a little boy sitting at the table next to ours who kept calling for the characters. He was adorable. During dinner the characters did a little dance around the restaurant with the kids. The little girl sitting at the table on the other side danced her way into my friend's chair. Ouch!

After dinner we made our way out of the park, but not before getting my picture taken with Roy and Minnie.

If I had to name a bad thing about Pop Century is that it's always the last bus stop. At MK, it's #17. We had to get in line by #13. Considering how long the line was, we only had to wait about 45 minutes before getting on the bus. I didn't think was too bad. We also caught the end of the water pageant.

I went straight to bed knowing the next day was my last day at the World.

Day 8

Today is my last day.

I woke up early to get my stuff together and was not feeling well. I caught what my friend had on Wednesday.

I checked the door for my list of room charges. Two charges for internet, check. One drink at Via Napoli, check. Two charges for Kona cafe. Wait, what?? Just when we thought everything was straightened out at the Kona Cafe, our drinks were charged to my room even though we left cash for them. I had planned on paying cash for the drink at Via Napoli but at least the waiter told me he charged it to my room before I left any cash for it.

After checking in for my flight and dropping off my checked bag, I went to the front desk to get the charges removed. They credited me for all three drinks and moved the two for my friends to their room. This happened to me last year. I paid cash for a drink and it was charged to my room. Last year, the waiter told my friend he charged her drink to her room but didn't tell me he did he charged mine to my room.

Has this happened to anyone else? I shouldn't have to tell them not to charge my room. They should get approval before doing so. Or at least tell me when you did so I don't leave cash. Makes me wonder how much Disney loses each year when they have to credit people for room charges who paid cash for an item not knowing it was charged to their room. Where did that money go? In the server's pocket.

Ok, I digress. Back to the trip report.

Today was pretty low-key. I dropped off my carry-on bag at friends' room and we went to breakfast. We went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping before going to Epcot for lunch.

The Christmas apples were so cute.

We took the bus that goes to the Dolphin & Swan, The Yacht Club, Beach Club and Boardwalk resorts. We got off at the Beach Club and walked to Epcot. They were building the gingerbread carousel.

We had lunch at Chefs de France. Remy made an appearance. He stopped at all the tables in the area of the restaurant where we were eating. It was fun to see him up close. Last year when we ate there, he only stopped at one table and I couldn't get a good picture of him.

After lunch we went back to Pop to relax by the pool before I had to catch the Magical Express. This is when I took the pictures of Art of Animation. I had a few snack credits left so I picked up a couple bags of Mickey pretzels and Mickey and Minnie Pez dispensers.

It was time for me to be on my way to the airport and end a fun-filled week.

I had so much fun with the autograph book and pen. They worked well for me.

The mac and cheese was really good at Chef de France. I wasn't feeling well so it was the comfort food I needed.

At Via Napoli, I had pasta with chicken and peas in a cream sauce. Also very good.

Thank you Jim and everyone for your compliments on my trip report.