I'm Back!

Well, I'm finally back and ready to post a new entry. This is my Trip Report from my Disney trip. For those of you who are on WDWMagic, this is pretty much an exact copy of my TR there, so you might want to not read it again. lol!

The Pre Game:

This trip ended up being a little different than our last few. For starters, this trip, as was our January trip a few years ago, was a Christmas present for me and my DH. We decided that instead of buying each other junk presents that we weren't really going to like, we would get each other something we both knew we'd enjoy.

Another thing that made this trip different was this was my first time in 4 years not staying on Disney property. Ever since I stayed on Disney property the first time, I fell in love. However, WHF works for the Hyatt, so we recieve free stays at the hotel and decided to cash in on the offer this time. (This was done to help keep costs lower.)

Also different this time, since we weren't staying on property, we rented a car for this trip. This ended up being a very interesting experience for people who have very minimal experience in doing this.

Last, and probabaly the biggest was that this trip didn't center completely around Disney. We did some other things, both on and off property that were entirely new for us. This was done, 1. because we had rented a car for this trip and 2. to once again, help to keep some of the cost down, as this trip was not really something we had budget for. Since we had decided that we were going to Florida for our Christmas present, any money that we recieved at Christmas time was used for spending purposes on the trip. That way, we got to spend our Christmas money on something we'd both enjoy as well. Usually we budget our trips for at least a year in advance. Now...let's get to the main event and the part you are all waiting for.

Day 1: Saturday Feb. 23
Arriving and Pleasure Island

Ah...nothing says fun like getting up at buttcrack early in the morning to be on a flight that is earlier than you usually get up on a daily basis. This flight took off at 7 am and I needed to be at the airport around 5:30. So, we got up around 4:30 to get dressed and finish getting ready. Luckily I live relatively close to our airport, so I didn't have to get up even earlier! I also have to say, I have the bestest best friend ever. She volunteered to take us to the airport and for that, I'm eternally greatful.

So, we arrived to the airport with little problems and went to Southwest. This was my first time using the new system that they put in place, and as some of you may be aware, up to this point, I really wasn't impressed. I was able to get my boarding passes 4 hours after they were released and I was already in section B. With the old system, I would have still been in A. With this new system, it is not fair to those who may not have access to the internet at the exact time that the tickets get released. The only thing I liked about the new system was that there were no people lined up waiting to get on the plane. However, I'm really glad I got to board the plane when I did. B/c by the time our section was called, the only part of the plane that was completely empty was the back and there weren't many empty seats left back there. If I had waited much later to have gotten my boarding passes the day before, I would have had big troubles finding seats for me and WHF to sit in where we could sit next to each other. Especially since our flight was FULL!

Other than my extreme displeasure for Southwest's new boarding procedures, the flight went really well. We only had a little turbulance when we hit a storm that was passing through FL. As soon as we got off the plane (oh how I love Orlando's airport!) our luggage was waiting for us on the carousel. This was just a sign to come of how easy this trip was going to be.
So, as soon as we had our luggage in hand, we went to the Alamo counter. As I stated before, this was our first time we had ever rented a car...and well, let's just put it this way...I really like staying on Disney property and using Magical Express. It is such a wonderful feature.

Luckily, I got a great deal on a compact car (and trust me, I'd been looking for good deals for at least 2 months! I got one just in the nick of time). We tried using the self check out kiosks, but I had a gift card from Christmas and it wouldn't accept it and I wanted to try to use it here to pay for the car. So, we got in line to use a representative. This was probably the worst part of our whole trip. As soon as we told the guy that we didn't want extra insurance on the car, he got extremely snotty and was no help, what so ever. He was also very rude in explaining that I couldn't use my gift certificates and had to use a credit card in the name of the person who was renting the car. (Which I understand why now, but I believe he could have explained this without being a huge jerk). He also didn't really explain to us how to get to the rental cars. He simply said...go across the street. For people who have never used a rental car before, I felt that this service was extremely poor.

Other than that, having a car was very nice. It was really great being able to get around with ease. When we got to the garage with the cars, we saw that in the compact section, Saturn Ions were available! This was great news as I actually drive a Saturn Ion! So, it was just like driving my car for WHF. (I'm not old enough to rent a car yet without paying enormous fees). It must be weird for people renting these cars though...b/c the mph, gas gauge, etc is all in the middle of the car, not above the steering wheel like normal cars. For us it was easy to get used to b/c we already were, but I can imagine for someone renting one, it would be a big shock!

One tip I really recommend when renting a car. Get GPS. We didn't get it through the rental car agency, but I did get it put on my phone (way cheaper!) and wow...let me tell you, it was a godsend. Without it, we would have gotten so lost. It told us EXACTLY where to go and was pretty much right on the money.

Finally we got to the hotel and OMG! Let me tell you, I was extremely pleased. We stayed at the Hyatt Grand Cypress and it is an absolutely gorgeous hotel. I don't hear a lot about it usually, but it is just off Disney property (all we had to do was go around the block basically to get to the back entrance by hotel plaza. Or as Vince calls it, the "Unmagical Entrance". :lol: ) and it is simply stunning. (Probably extremely costly too!) We checked in and were offered champagne. The service here was simply amazing. We went up to our room and then took a tour of the hotel. The pool area here is absolutely amazing. It has a waterfall, 3 hot tubs--2 of which are in little secluded areas in the rock structure, 2 water slides. Not to mention all the other ammenities this hotel has. Some of the cooler things Surrey bikes and other bikes you can take on trails, boat usage, rock climbing wall, health club, etc.

So, now that we've looked around the hotel, we realized, hey, we're hungry. And, it had started raining, so we couldn't go out to the pool yet anyway. (What is it with us and Florida? Everytime we go, it pours!) We got ourselves a pizza from the food court thingy the hotel had and then by that time, it had stopped raining, so we went to the hot tub.

Now, we were throughly tired at this point. And we had a long night ahead of us, so we decided that we would use this opportunity to take a nap. I ended up getting cold being wet from the hot tub and decided to go upstairs to finish my nap. About an hour and a half later, we got ready to go meet our friend, Vince at The Beach Club for dinner at Beaches and Cream.

This was also my first time visiting this resort...and wow...it's gorgeous. I loved the pool area. It is gorgeous! I can see why people like the pool here!

And since this was our first time visiting this hotel, this was also our first time eating at Beaches and Cream. I thought the burger was delicious, although thought the service was ok-poor. This may be attributed to the fact that Vince mentioned that he had the DDE card...and what with the automatic tip now...Our waitress just didn't seem very attentive to us, as much as she could have been. I also ended up getting the Fudge Mudslide...which was delicious and filling. Although, now I just realized, there was no brownie with my sundae.

Something that surprised me though was how small Beaches and Cream is. I figured it would be a lot bigger, but it is really teeny tiny!

From there, we walked around the Boardwalk and caught the tale end of Illuminations from right near the Int. Gateway.

This is when I got my pangs of longing. Ever since I'd landed, I'd get these pangs of, I'm in Florida, but not really doing Disney like normal. These were more prevelant that first night than any other. But man, do they suck.

After walking along Boardwalk, we went to DTD to the Adv. Club. Now, I got turned on the the Adv. Club last trip by Vince. It is everything everyone ever talks about on here. It is seriously the best thing! And this night was no exception. We had the best time...and experienced some really hilarious stuff.

The funniest thing (which you probably really needed to be there for it to be as hilarious as it was) was started when Otis made fun of this guy for holding his girl in a way that made her look like he was giving her the himlich. Which then turned into Otis called for needing the himlich at some point. In which this girl who was on her last night from working at Disney, proceeded to get up and give him the himlich--hard. Then he said something about needing CPR and this same girl goes up and kisses him. OMG! It seriously had me laughing so hard...I thought I was gonna puke. I really wished I'd gotten it on camera, b/c my God it was funny!

This time at the Adv. Club we saw pretty much all different people with the exception of two. We stayed all the way to the end with the Hoopla! It was seriously a blast.

After that, WHF wanted to go check out some of the other clubs, so we went to Motion which we thought was kinda boring. We then went to Manequins which we thought was cool, but we don't really listen to that techno-ey stuff. Finally we went to 8 Tracks and really enjoyed ourselves there. It was fun actually getting to sing and dance to songs we recognized.

Finally we left for the hotel. We got back at around 2 am and were very sleepy b/c without the naps we had been up for like 22 hours.

Sunday Feb. 24
Daytona

So today was our predominantly non-Disney day. WHF really loves Daytona and goes there every year for the Pepsi 400 in the summer. This year, however, he is not going, so as a consolation prize, I decided we could go on this trip. Today, we got up later, from being extremely tired the night before, and got on the road to visit the World of Disney (wait...I thought she said she didn't do Disney... ) I was on a mission for those brown Mary Jane Crocs. No luck here...or anywhere else, for that matter.

Finally we headed towards Daytona which was extremely easy to find with my little Navigator friend. :D We got to Daytona in about an hour and 15 minutes. The first thing we did there was go to the Daytona Flea Market. We ended up buying a pair of sunglasses and some absolutely delish strawberries. I have never tasted strawberries that good! On our way out of the Flea Market though, we got extremely lost. (This place is HUGE!) Luckily, I remembered where we entered, so we found our way out with a little difficulty. We would have been screwed though if I hadn't looked to see which entrance we came in. They all look the same! From there, we went to Hooters for lunch. I got the shrimp and the onion straws. The shrimp did not sit well with me. I think it was the combination of shrimp and butter, but I felt a bit queasy afterwards. After that, it was beach time. :D

We got to the beach and parked. (For those of you who have never been, at Daytona, you can drive your car along the beachfront). We walked a decent way along the beachfront and then back. The water was a tad cold, but once you got used to it, you were fine.

After the beach, we went to play mini golf at this place that was themed like the rainforest. Man was it expensive though! I think Disney might be the same or cheaper and you get more themeing at Disney. Oh well, we were on vacay. Oh, and WHF wants me to point out that I lost at mini golf. He won for the first time in our entire relationship. At the golf course, they had a place where you could feed alligators. We did not partake in that, but i did take a pic of a gator!

After that, we went to the pier and rode on this scary as hell skyway! I seriously never realized how afraid of heights I was until that moment. It was the LONGEST 13 minutes of my life. If you're ever in Daytona...do NOT do this, unless you want to be freaked out!

We left Daytona at around 8 and headed back to Orlando. While in Orlando, we at TGI Fridays. It was good, but we weren't that hungry. They had delicious nachos though! After eating, we went back to the hotel and got in the hot tub again while eating the strawberries that we bought earlier. From there, it was bed, b/c we had to be up early for our day at MK!

Monday Feb. 26
Magic Kingdom

Yay! We're finally going to the parks!!! Whoo hoo!

So today we got up early (for us on vacation) at 9:30. We got ready and parked in the Pluto section. We decided to hoof it to the Transportation and Ticket Center and once we got there, decided to take the resort monorail because the express was way long while the resort monorail only had a few people in line.

Now, I was a little worried about actually getting in to the MK. As some of you may know (and to upate those of you who didn't.) my DH and I went in Sept. and we went to the MNSSHP where it just POURED. When we got back home, I'd learned that that night Disney CM were telling people that the tickets from that night were going to be re-released and could be used for any day people wanted, for up to a year. I simply thought this might be too good to be true and we'd get to the front and they'd say, nope...gotta buy new tickets. I was all prepared to pay the extra money, just in case. However, you all were correct (why should I have doubted you! ) My tickets worked like a dream. No problems using them, what-so-ever.

From there, we headed down to Jungle Cruise. We had not been on JC since our first trip and I was not waiting 40 minutes for it! So, we skipped it. On to Pirates, it was closed. (What is up with my luck and Pirates?! It never seems to work when I'm there!) So, instead, we headed to Frontierland and got Fastpasses for Big Thunder. While waiting for that, we got in line for Splash.

After Splash, we finally went on Big Thunder. Man, I know the standby wait time said 40 minutes, but it had to have been way more than that! Luckily, we didn't have to wait in it.

From there, I went and got FastPasses for Peter Pan while WHF went and got us lunch at Columbia Harbor House. The clam chowder there is so delicious.

I couldn't believe what a gorgeous day it was outside. Low 80s today...where as it was freezing at home. It was so nice to be out and about in the sun. After lunch, we still had time before our Fast Pass was up, so we went to see Haunted Mansion. I saw it right after the refurb, but some of the effects weren't working totally. It was nice to see it working properly. After that, it was over to Philharmagic. This is one of my favorite new things added. Then, we still had time, so we went on Snow White and then Pooh. This is one of the most excruciating waits. I really wished we would have been able to get a Fast Pass.

Once Pooh was over, we went to get get Fast Passes for Space and headed back to Peter Pan. We were going to ride It's a Small World, but the line was 30 minutes. No thanks...I'll ride you later.

Since IASW was out...we went back to Tomorrowland to ride Buzz. WHF kicked my butt at Buzz, yet again. I don't know why I"m so terrible at that game. I do so well with the version here at our Six Flags. But with Buzz, I can't get the thing to go where I want it. From there, we went to Carousel of Progress. One of our favorites. After that, it was Space Mountain time! We got a Fast Pass after riding, so we could ride it again later.

Then I got a Premium Mickey bar *drools just thinking about it* and rode the TTA while enjoying my treat. At the end of the TTA we got asked to participate in a research survey about the attraction. Don't know what that's about.

From there, we went back for our second go round of the park. We checked the wait for Jungle Cruise again. This time, it was 60 minutes! No thanks again! We did manage to get on Pirates this time though. I liked it much better this time than I did the first time I rode since the new changes. WHF was hungry, so we got some fries to much on and then headed back up to Splash.
We got a Fast Pass and then got in line b/c the wait was for 30 minutes and our FP would be ready after 30 minutes, so we thought we'd just get right back on. Turns out, there was no need to get the Fast Pass. After we rode the first time, when we got back to the station, there was no one waiting, so we just stayed on again.

While in line for Splash, I got a call from Vince. He was off work and wanted to see if we'd mind if he came up. We said, of course not. He still wasn't in the parks yet, so we decided to go on Haunted Mansion again. I got a call from him while we were in line that he was there, so I told him we'd meet him at the exit. After we got off, not only was Vince standing there, but I also met Rain (rainfully for those of you who don't know) from the forums here. It was so cool to meet her b/c she's a St. Louis native as well.

Rain had a little time before she had to leave, so we went and rode It's a Small World, finally. Here's a pic of the 3 of us...it's not the best, but we were in the boat...so it's all we got.

After IASW, Rain had to leave, but our Fast Pass time was up for Space. So, Vince, WHF, and I headed over to Space. We parted ways with Vince for a few and rode. After that, we decided it would be smart, with 10 minutes left before park close to get our booties over to Jungle Cruise...and of course, since the fireworks were about to start, we took the long way. I don't think I've ever felt more tired in my life! I'd walked faster than I'd ever walked. (I don't run unless someone's chasing me!) I was pooped! However, we ended up just making it! Yay!

From there, we watched the end of Wishes and then decided, what the heck...let's cut across the crowds for ice cream. (For those of you counting, this is my second ice cream of the day and third overall...how I'm not the size of a blimp, I'll never know.) We sat and ate our ice cream by the Art Festival area on Main Street. Then we browsed the shops.

After that, we left the parks.

We took the resort monorail to the TTC and then walked back to our car. My DH and I realized we were hungry, so we stopped at Taco Bell for dinner. Then we headed back to the hotel, got in the hot tub again and went to bed!

Tuesday Feb. 26
Time to Say Goodbye

Wait?! The trip's over already?! We just got here. I'm not ready to go home yet. I don't want to go back to the cold. I want to stay here where it's warm!

Ok...well, since I have no choice, today we got up and got a late check out and packed up a bit. Then we checked out and since our flight wasn't until 9 that night, we went to the pool area to use some of the ammenities that we hadn't had time for earlier. So first we did this bike boat thing on the lake. It was really cool...although, it started raining as soon as we got off the dock, so I got soaked! Luckily I dried quickly.

From there, we went and did those surrey bikes. Let me tell you, it is really hard to do those on mulch. Pavement is good...mulch equals bad! After that, we sat by the pool and watched all the kids playing. Then we decided we wanted to relax a bit more, so we went and sat in the hammocks. Hammocks are one of my most favorite things in the world. It's a great place to snuggle up next to WHF. (Did I make you all puke yet?! lol! ) It was almost time to go, but before we left, we had to play one quick game of air hockey. It was a close one where I caught up at the end, but ended up loosing 7-6. Bummer. Then it was time to leave the hotel.

We went to Downtown Disney and looked around at some of the shops. However, we still had a bunch of time left, so we decided we'd go visit Port Orleans. We had never been there, so we decided to get out at French Quarter and look around.

WHF really liked this resort, but it wasn't my style. He said it seemed really relaxing. Since we were going to eat at DTD, but now, didn't believe we had enough time, we decided to get lunch/dinner at the food court and eat it outside. I got the ribs, but wished I would have gotten the chicken WHF got. It was a lot better. While eating, the heavens opened up and it started pouring!!! Which meant that the boat was closed. And we were already cutting it close to getting back in time to get the car back. Luckily the bus showed up without too much of a wait.

We got back to Downtown Disney just in time, but it was pouring, so we had to take the mad dash to the car. Thank God I brought an umbrella! It was an easy drive (more or less) to get back to the airport and the rental car return went off without a hitch. No problem there, at all. The flight was about 10 minutes late with the rain, but there were only 26 of us on the plane, so it was a really quiet flight. (No problems finding a seat this time! ) We got in right on time and my mom and dad picked us up at the airport, no problems.

This trip was really great. It was just what the Doctor ordered. It was relaxing and just a great getaway. I couldn't believe how (for the most part) easy it was. It was nice having the rental car. If you stay off property, really, I can't stress how important it is to have one. It also wasn't too bad staying off property. Besides those inital pangs of missing being on Disney property the whole time. The Hyatt was an absolutely wonderful hotel to stay at and I'm so lucky WHF works for them.

It also wasn't too bad going to Daytona. I don't love it as much as WHF does...to him it is beyond amazing...but I had a decent time there. I'm glad we went and he finally got to show me around his "stomping grounds" I've been showing him mine for years. :D

The one thing I'm very thankful for was that I had no feelings like I was missing something. On my last trip, I felt a little disappointed after it. The Disney Depression hit, but in a different way then, oh, I miss it. This time, I am very satisfied with my trip. Since I hadn't over-planned this trip, I felt there was not much to get disappointed over. It was like having a blank slate and pretty much whatever we decided to do was fine with me. I want to try to plan my trips that way from now on.

I can't wait til my next trip now...which may be, after talking with DH, be as soon as Sept or November. Depends on what we decide to do this year. Thank you all for reading my report. Hope you enjoyed it!