strangers in a strange land - pre trip report

[tinker-kyle]

a family of wdw veterans is about to take on DL for the first time ....

cast ...
me "the mom" - planner, coordinator, time-keeping, restaurant reviewer, unoffical guidereader, and general "knower of all things"

"the dad" - really a big kid with a huge appetite for all things disney. runs on the cheapskate side of the fence except with disney then he's "mickey bars for everybody" i can live with that

and
"the kid" 7 1/2 year old girl - #1 tinkerbell fan and a ruthless souvnier shopper (she's allowed $10 per day -- thats saved from birthday/holiday $$. she can save up for something but cant borrow from the kitty) very very excited about the "pixie dust" at the DLH rooms hope she's not disapponted

okay ... so we're leaving in a few hours
and we are the HUGEST wdw fans ... not big thrill-seekers but just love being at disney and being away from reality
we belong to DVC and get about every disney newsletter, magazine, club, etc thats out there. love the disboards and other people's trip reports.

decided to try DL ... but didnt want to wait until the 50th. wanted low crowds, cooler temps, free airfare (!)
we're flying from JFK to san diego thanks to skymiles
and have bookended our DL days with weekend visits with family and friends in and around san diego

checking into DLH on valentines day for 4 nights ... suppose to have "resort view"
hope to be at DL for opening monday morning. we already have our 4-day park-hopper bonus super-de-dooper tix (or whatever they call them now ) adult tix at child price (good deal!) we will probably be there with time to spare (we were once at MGM 60mins before opening - not necessary but the dad has a serious "have to be there before it opens" compulsion) even if it means leaving san diego at 4am

though i know wdw very well DL is an engima .... what will crowds be like? where will eat? where do we park? where the heck did they put the monorail? (does anyone remember when the monorail went through DL hotel - i swear it was like that when i was a kid but everyone says i'm confused ... i was six i could very well be confused) where are the bathrooms? will there be enough to do for 4 days? (we have never felt that we've seen everything on our 10+ trips to wdw) will it be warm enough to swim? do you get soaked a grizzly river run like at kali river rapids? should i get the huge greasy monte cristo or something else? questions like this having been keeping me up at nite!


anyway i am not expecting crowds this week ... hope i'm right
have rehab schedule memorized
no splash -- ok with me and kid (we dont love anything that drops) would have done it once to see difference btw wdw splash
no tiki birds -- again ok though this is the orignal version and would have like to compare with wdw tikis
no railroad -- more bummed about this one coz its a tradition, ya know? and there's the dioramas which are suppose to be famous (not quite sure what they are and wont find out this trip)
no minnie's house -- but we're very happy that mickey's has reopened (is his kitchen under construction like at wdw -- its been that way for y-e-a-r-s)
no space -- again alright with that except for the comparison deal
no mark twain riverboat -- the dad was bummed about this one - its his mission every trip it get on it at least once

so ... we're pretty cool with the rehabs
nothing we havent seen or were dying to see are off-line
looking forward to soaring (which will be open in epcot when we're there in august), indiana jones, and matterhorn.

most disappointed in no fantasmic, no fireworks (give me wishes over fantasmic anyday), and the biggie ... no parade as we're not staying over a sat nite. love-love-love the main st electrical parade which is now at CA ... this was enough to almost (almost) get us to change our plans ... to me the main st electrical parade is the most perfect parade and dont know why its not on main st anymore ... last saw it in 1999 when it was "visiting" wdw.

okay ... so we've made peace with our plans and our packed and ready to go
i'll be back with details in about ten days
btw ... my first trip report ever - hope someone reads it (would be like having a party and no-one showing up)

 

[iceskatejen]

I'll answer the Qs you put in the middle of your post since you seemed curious. Crowds should be not too bad, esp. considering you'll be doing this on weekdays. I'd expect most waits will be 10 minutes or less except for some of the most popular rides. Probably you just need to park once at the DL hotel and walk/monorail from there to the parks. It wouldn't be worth it to move you're car to the parking structure just to take the tram. As the structure is huge, you may end up walking almost as far as the hotel anyway. The monorail didn't get moved--the DTD station is in the same exact place as it was when it went to the hotel--they just demolished the buildings that it was next to. Well, if I went with you, wondering where the bathrooms are wouldn't be a problem--I know them all. I have DL and DCA auto-pilot. Most are pretty easy to find. I just checked the weather and I'd stay out of the pool--it'll be in the 60s all week with rain predicted for Tues. GRR--yep, it'll get you pretty wet, though I've gone on it and stayed pretty dry, too. It should be in "winter" operating mode, which means you shouldn't get that wet, but you still will probably get wet, maybe even soaked. Oh, come on, get the monte cristo--calories and fat don't count at DL.

 

[lulubelle]

Bring it on TinkerKyle! We love, love, love trip reports here on the DIS

I am sad to see so much rain in the immediate forcast, but hope to read about your awesome trip in spite of it. Looking forward to your reports, please post when you return

 

[Krispe]

We're looking forward to your reports! We hope your having a wonderful time at Disney!!!