The cast:
Bill – Me, 40, a bona fide Disney geek.
Amy – 37 at the start of the trip, 38 by the end of the trip.
Katie – 5 – this is her third trip to WDW. She loves Princess Jasmine very much.
Ryan – 17, a teen Disney expert in her own right, and a Pirates fanatic.
Jenna – Same age as WDW, veteran of many trips, extremely knowledgeable about the World. She would be arriving secretly to surprise Amy.
Randy – The Disney King.
Carol – Mrs. The Disney King. (Randy and Carol would also be arriving secretly – to everyone’s surprise. More on that later.)
Day 1: Arrival/MNSSHP
I was in Orlando working a trade show at the Wyndham Resort on International Drive. Amy, Ryan Elizabeth and Katie were flying down and we were all to meet up at our DVC home resort, Saratoga Springs. As soon my coworker and I broke down the booth I was going to fly right out of there, catch a cab and vacation would start.
I’ll be honest: I was a little antsy about getting out of there.
Trade show booth breakdown is supposed to begin at a designated time, and not one second earlier. It is trade show law. This show, it was to be at 12:15 p.m. I figured by 12:35 or so I’d be out of there. The thing is, the show had been slow, and the people working the show floor were a bit unhappy about that.
At about 10:45 a.m., someone ripped off a section of packing tape. The unmistakable sound – which had assaulted our ears about 90 minutes earlier than expected - traveled across the nearly empty showroom and seemed to echo for a moment before those in the booths around us cast furtive glances up one side of the aisle and down the other.
Seconds later mayhem erupted as every booth in the place began breaking down. It was unstoppable. My coworker and I followed suit and within minutes we had everything boxed up and ready for shipping back to New Hampshire.
I said my goodbyes, and headed for the lobby where I picked up my luggage and was soon on my way to the Saratoga Springs Resort. My taxi driver insisted on doing some kind of Mapquest search on his laptop, which was perched precariously on the seat next to him, as we careened down International Drive. This made for a scary trip, but I knew soon that I’d be deep in Mouse country.
A word about the weather: It was quite hot, and very humid. Local meteorologists were calling for downpours most of the week. This had me a little nervous, but my attitude was that a little rain wouldn’t disrupt our plans.
I was dropped off at Saratoga Springs a short time later, and was met by Katie, Amy and Ryan in the lobby. They had already checked in, gotten our DVC packet and card keys and were ready to go. We had reserved a studio for the week, and our room was in the Grandstand section of the resort. We piled into our Pontiac G6 rental car and found our way over to the Grandstand. Our room was on the bottom floor, and not far from where we parked. We grabbed the luggage and made our way to room 9543. We opened the door – and saw it only had one bed. I don’t know why I thought there would be two, but I did. No matter, the couch pulled out to a bed right where the second bed would normally be, so that’s where Katie and Ryan would be spending their nights over the next week.
We were all pretty hungry, so we unpacked, I got out of my suit clothes and into my slobby Disney stuff, and we drove over to Downtown Disney for a very nice lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. I got the Frenchy, as I am wont to do, and we even sat outside – which shows you how happy I was to be there. I normally eschew the sun and humidity, but I just didn’t care. I was very happy.
After lunch we went back to the room and we actually got Katie to nap. This was a minor miracle, as Katie has never been a champion sleeper. She had been up since about 4 a.m. though, and we’d be up late that night. A nap, we figured, would increase our chances for a fun first day or two.
I flicked on the TV and watched a little of the Stacy channel (the in-room resort channel) before nodding off for a few.
A couple hours later we were all up and preparing for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party that night at the Magic Kingdom. Ryan was dressed as a pirate, Katie in her Jasmine dress, while Amy and I punked out and didn’t dress up. Amy wore a pair of Stitch ears and I agreed to procure a silly hat once we got inside the Magic Kingdom.
We drove to the TTC and took the ferry to the Magic Kingdom.
Once we were inside I called Jenna on her cell phone. Amy had no idea Jenna was coming. It turns out she was right across the street from us, and while I kept Amy’s attention Jenna walked up behind Amy, in full Red Riding Hood costume, and said, “Excuse me, can you tell me where Grandma’s house is?”
It was a great entrance, and Amy was completely taken by surprise. Now our vacation could truly begin.
I was talked into getting a pair of pirate mouse ears at the chapeau shop and then we made our way up Main Street.
We walked around the Magic Kingdom, focusing mainly on Adventureland that night. Katie’s 5-year-old mind was blown when she got a chance to meet Jasmine and Aladdin, and she rode Pirates of the Caribbean with very little fear (she asked me to cover her eyes until we passed below Davy Jones). Before long it was time for the Hallowishes parade, so we staked out a spot at the Hub in front of Cinderella Castle. The parade was, as always, very good. The music was good, the cast members were good and the spirit of the night was in full effect.
We made our way to the newly-refurbished Haunted Mansion. The line, at first, was absurd. After a little trick or treating it got better, and Ryan and Jenna rode it while Katie, Amy and I hung out on the porch of the gift shop nearby. Amy and Katie rocked in rocking chairs and Katie asked Amy to sing "Moon, Moon, Moon" to her (it's the song Amy sings to Katie every night before she goes to sleep.) It was undeniably adorable.
Ryan and Jenna gave the haunted mansion two thumbs WAY up, so Amy and I took our turn. It was great. The audio is much improved, the cobwebs look better and the attic was entirely different and much better than it used to be. We loved it.
After that we began trick-or-treating in ernest. This brought us around much of the park, and concluded with what I like to call “the death march.” I was tired, and if I had the energy to say anything I probably would’ve been whining. However, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other as we walked the path from Toontown to Tomorrowland. Amy noticed the look on my face, which was probably a mix of fatigue, pain and a lack of patience. However, I didn’t say a word. I was happy to be there, even if it meant I may die of humidity and lack of sleep. But I also didn’t argue at all when it came time to head home for the night.
As we exited the park we stuffed our bags full of Hershy’s Kissables candy. There was a gigantic trough full of it just past the turnstyles, and cast members were urging us to take as much as we could carry.
Amy and Jenna were a few minutes behind us, because Amy wanted to take a second shot at getting a picture of the headless horseman’s ride down Main Street. It is a great sight, but our camera isn’t exactly the quickest. I think Jenna got a good shot of it.
Ryan, Katie and I made the first ferry to the TTC, while Amy and Jenna were left on the dock. When we got to the TTC and boarded the tram which would take us to our car, Amy and Jenna ran up just as we were pulling away.
“Wait, my husband is on that tram!” Amy laughed as we pulled away.
They made good time however, as they were only about a minute behind us when we got to the car.
We drove home, I set the air conditioner to 70 billion below zero, and we all conked out for the night. It had been a great first day complete with Jenna, Jasmine, Stacy and candy, and we were getting up early to hit the Magic Kingdom first thing in the morning.
Sleep came very quickly.
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