We're going to Disney World!

Welcome to Our Walt Disney World Jubilee! Planning for this trip started almost 2 years ago. Matt, Mark and I decided we were going to go to WDW (Walt Disney World) November of 2004. However things fell through and we were unable to go. No problem! We're flexible. We changed out pland to February 2005. Well life had other plans and our trip was put on hold. In November of 2005 Mark and I started talking about trying to make this trip again. We had gotten through some rough patches and we were ready for some serious fun and to attempt the trip again. We talked, did number crunching, reserched and we decided we thought we could do it. We told Matt our plans right away and he thought he could make it as well. We decided that our trip would take place on February 2006.

Money was still tight. There were a few times we thought we would have to postpone the trip AGAIN! But we all said "Hells no, biotch!" and stuck to our guns to make this trip possible.We really all pulled together. In fact I probably wouldn't be making the trip if it wasn't for Mark's help. There were a lot of times when he told me not to give up and that we'd figure out a way... and we did.

We started making plans and reservations. We got an awesome deal for out hotel. We decided to stay in a Value Resort because with Mark's CM (Disneyland Cast Member) discount we could get 50% off the already really reasonable price. We opted to stay at the newest Value Resort which is called the Pop Century and its themed to each decade from the 50's-90's.

We decided to book a red eye flight on Delta so we could get as much time to play in WDW as possible. We also got our transportation set up with Disney's Magical Express. We are all set!

As the days get closer we all get more excited! We made a paper chain and every day at 10:40PM we cut one of the chains off bringing us one day closer to getting our selves out of Corona and into Orlando! And then Mark and I will usually dance around the living room like nerds and then we IM (Instant Message) Matt who squeals like a school girl. We are currently at 11 days. And there is nothing left to plan. We have our flights set up, hotel reserved, batteries bought, Priority Seating arangements made for meals, our packing list made... there is nothing left to do until its time to start packing. ACK! I can't wait!!!!!

There may be a few postings here before we depart on 2/2/06 but the majority of the postings will be once we return... since this IS a trip report. I promise lots of detail, fun and pictures!

Zero my Hero!

No more days left! We leave today! Oooooh! Can you taste the excitement? I can... and it tastes like churros!

So here I am at work... not working. But I did everthing that needs to be done before I left. But I can't concentrate to start on anything else. We had a small sock crisis yesterday when Mark could only find 4 1/2 socks. No worries! We had to return a pair of board shorts he bought at Target so we headed out that way. We exchanged the board shorts, bought a 6pack of sockies and I bought some lip gloss ( Well I can't very well go to Disney World with out looking beautiful, can I? ...don't answer that.). Once that was all done we decided we needed food. McDonalds Dollar Menu... here we come! Oops. We passed it. No problem. We headed to the one closer to our house and thankfully the girl working the window understood the word "katchup". it even came in a special little bag. I've never seen that before. Oh well... I like katchup! We got our food and headed home to eat our feast.

After eating our meal o' nutrition we finished packing almost everything! We just have our morning toilitries to pack. We both managed to get nine days worth of clothing into our carry on luggage. Damn! We're good. Matt came over to pick up his hair clippers that we borrowed to do Mark's hair. Finally... 1040pm came and we cut the last chain off our "vacation chain", signifying less than 24 hours left for our trip! Mark and I went to bed at midning and were probably asleep by 1230. Poor Matt said he couldn't even sleep until 4am.

So here we are. Mark and I are both at work... counting the hours before we can leave. And Matt is waiting to go to work. We'll be leaving the house for the airport tonight by 8pm. Wheeeee!

Day 1: Feb 2nd and 3rd, 2006. Our Trip Begins (Or... The Trash Can Talks)

Cast of Characters:

Beth: That's me! Hi! Long time Disney Nerd here. This is my 2nd trip to Walt Disney World (From here on out it shall be known as WDW. Get with the Acronyms people! We Disney Nerds love 'em!). My first trip was in 2000 with my little brother and I remember very little from that trip. I feel like this is my first trip. Which is good because its everyone else's first trip.

Mark: My very best friend in the whole wide world. Love this guy so much! Its thanks to him that this trip is possible... on SO many levels. Thanks to him and the fact that he's a Disneyland Cast Member (CM) we get into the parks for free and 1/2 of our room! Son of a discount! That's a good deal! He runs a little website (with my help... can't let him get too cocky.) called MouseHub.com. It's great... check it out.

Matt: Our very near and dear friend who helps out on Mousehub. Matt is a good guy with a good heart and a demented mind... and that's why we like him. His favorite park is DCA so I was very excited to see how he liked everything at WDW. Matt is as giddy school girl about this trip!

This day actually started out for us on Feb 2nd. We all worked earlier in the day and then finished up last minute packing. Once Mark and I were done we took showers since we’d be on a plane all night and then going to the Magic Kingdome once we arrived in Florida. There was no shower pit stopped planned in out agenda for that day so we had to get clean the day before. We thought maybe we’d take a little nap before getting on the plane… yeah right. Instead we watched “I love the 80’s” and grew more and more impatient waiting for Matt to show up. He did… Finally! I think Mark almost had a heart attack in anticipation. Matt had stopped to eat. But not Mark and I. Nope… we were going to eat at the airport since we had plenty of time there and we didn’t want to get hungry on the red eye flight.

We head over to the Adams’ who were nice enough to drive us to the airport. We went inside for a little bit so Mark could help his sister and then we all piled into the car and off to the airport we went! Once we were there we lugged our luggage in (9 days and we each had just one carry on and one personal item. No checked luggage at all. Damn we’re good. Actually… I packed Mark’s bags so I’m extra good. LOL!). We checked in and headed through security. I had to wait for the guys because their collapsible tripods looked suspicious. Soon enough we were headed to the gate. Great! I was starving. And I know if I’m hungry, Mark has to be ready to devour a whole cow. But wait! What’s this?! Every singe restaurant is closed? It’s only 9pm! Thankfully Matt came prepared and he had snacks. Mark had goldfish and I had a rice crispy treat that tasted like banana… weird! Then a coffee shop opened and we got Danishes. Mmmm!

Finally it was time to board. For some reason we were “Zone 4” and Matt was “Zone 5” so we waited to board with Matt. We got settled, had a little snack on the plane. Matt liked the smoked gouda and licked his little container clean. After that I dozed off and on for 2 hours. I assume the guys kept themselves entertained.

One the plane, looking pretty. Or handsome as the case may be.

Soon we were landing in Atlanta. HURRAH! We could eat real food! If Cinnebon counts as real. While I used the bathroom to freshen up from the plane the guys went crazy and decided that the trashcan talked… Hello guys! This isn’t PUSH.


“Hi, my name is Trashy McTrasherson. Mark and Matt think I talk.”

Back on the plane we go… 7am Atlanta time… 4am our time. I stayed awake the whole flight. And was it ever a bumpy flight. Especially at the end… it was bumpy like a rash on a baby’s behind. I felt a big hand attached to a 6’4 body reach for mine. Awe… sweet! We arrived on Orlando in one piece. And… what’s this?! Clouds??? Clouds!!! And what is this wet stuff? RAIN?! Ewww! But we are troopers and we didn’t care. What’s a little rain? I moved from Seattle to SoCal. I can handle this stuff!

We took the airport monorail and chug-chugged our way to Disney’s Magical Express. It was really easy to find and really easy to check in. We got on the buss and tried to wait patiently for the bus driver… but we were so excited!


Waiting impatiently on the DME bus.

We FINALLY arrive at the Pop Century. We run as fast as we can with our roll-y luggage to get out of the rain. We check in and HURRAH! Our room is ready. Its about 930am when we get to our room. We decided to unpack as no one really liked the idea of living out of a suitcase for 9 days. We unpacked and bought ponchos to keep dry. Then we hopped our first bus to the Magic Kingdom.


Mark and Matt look excited at the thought of Tie Dyed Cheesecake.

WOW! We finally arrived at the Magic Kingdom. After years of saying we were going to go… we actually made it! Everything was huge. And wet. LOL!


We made it!


Mark and Matt in front of the train station.



“Its so big!” That’s what she said…



It’s so much larger then my old Emporium at home! (Ours is prettier on the inside.)



Matt and Mark make their way into the park. (Hey… it rhymes!)


Our first stop was Stitch’s Great Escape. This ride is the bane of Matt’s existence even though none of us has ever been on it before. And let me tell you… we were not missing anything by not riding it. I may not remember much from my previous trip but I can tell you Alien Encounter was much more interesting. I never felt like Stitch was anywhere near me. Luckily I held my breath for the “Chili Dog Burp”. Matt said it almost made him throw up... Mark liked it. LOL! But then… chili dogs are his favorite food.

We rode Space Mountain (I thought I was going to lose my best friend to decapitation! Dang those beams are low!! But it sure was fun.) the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (Or the People Mover to those of you who know Disneyland.) and Buzz Lighyear. Bleck! Our ride wins on that one.


I meet a friend in Tomorrowland before heading to Fantasyland to eat. I forget his name…

We were all pretty hungry by that time so we headed over to Village Haus. WDW food is SO much better than Disneyland food. Where as our Village Haus serves crappy burgers that are always cold, WDW’s serves Italian food. I had an Italian Sub, Mark ate pizza and Matt had a Panini sandwich.




Mark and Matt wait to order our food. Hurry up guys! I’m starvin’!!

We road Pirates (Poop! We only rode it that one time the whole trip) and Splash (YEAH! Awesome ride and thanks to our ponchos we didn’t get anymore drenched than we already were. Mark love love loved this version. He works Disneyland’s Splash in case you didn’t know.). Matt dragged us on to Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride in the pelting rain. I’ve never seen a guy so excited on a spinning ride. LOL! By this time my pants were wet up to my knees (Drat! Sometimes being short like a pirate missing both of his wooden legs sucks.). Noelle called me and said she was on her way to meet us. (Side note: Noelle is a sweetheart of a girl who I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for a while now. She’s from NorCal and just moved to Florida a few weeks before we arrived to do the Disney College Program for 3 months.) I was very excited to see her!


Matt dresses up by Pitates. Ole!

We did Mickey’s Phillharmagic to get out of the rain. It was really good. I liked it more than I thought I would because I am NOT a fan of the crappy CGI they use for classic characters. It makes them look like poop. But I really liked this! I did think that one of the scents they used in one scene smelled like bathroom air freshener but all in all it was very enjoyable and everyone else thought so too. We did the Tea Cups (Much faster than ours!) and Pooh and then Space again.


Mark, Matt and Noelle on the Tea Cups.


Noelle and I on the Tea Cups.


Mark and I… He said he was pretending to drink tea… but it looks like he’s pretending to do something else if you ask me!


Matt and Noelle… Whoooosh!


Best look ever on Mark’s face. LOL!


By this time the crew and I were dragging. Noelle understood that we were wet and tired so we headed out of the park at around 5pm. We caught one last look of the castle and I ran into my favorite characters! Chip and Dale! w00t!! We said our bye’s to Noelle and headed back to the Pop.


Walt and Mickey know that its really Disneyland’s 50th


Ch-ch-ch-chip and Dale!

Once we got back to the Pop, we bought the refillable mugs that we can refill for free our whole trip. This is a GREAT deal. I know we ate something but I can’t for the life of me remember what it was. We headed back to our room stopping to take pictures at our birth decades and then crashed hard core.


Ok, ok so I only made it into the last 2 weeks of the 70’s but who cares.


I love the 80’s!!

So… this was just about the longest post ever. The next ones shouldn’t be as long since I won’t be cramming so many days into one post. If you made it this far… congratulations! Leave me a comment, let me know you’re still alive, how you like it so far and if you have any questions. Look for the next day coming soon!

Day 2: Feb 4th 2006 Clausterphobic in a Tin Can

Mmmm… I’m floating down Main Street USA. Its raining gumdrops and chocolates. A pink cloud zips by. And then a purple one. And then a polk-a-dot one. And then a huge bee zooms out of no where. I can hear it. “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!” It sounds mad… “Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”

I sit up in the bed… it’s the alarm going off. Both Matt and Mark are slapping at the alarm from either bed trying desperately to turn it off. One of them finally does and I lean over Mark to see what time it is. 12AM! Ugh! My head hits the pillow and I’m back to dreamland.

When 7am rolled around we got our real wake up call from Stitch and Mickey. That was much better! I get up first since being a girl and having to dry my hair it takes me longer to get ready. I don’t wake up this beautiful. LOL! That was a joke. I just do my hair and toss on some make up for the sake of others around me so they won’t be shocked by my hideousness. LOL! Still 40 minutes later we were all ready and heading out the door of our hotel room.

We headed down to the Everything Pop, which is a huge cafeteria type place with 5 stations serving different kinds of food through out the day. But its like the best cafeteria ever. I was really impressed with the food for the price. Coming from California I was overjoyed to see the price of food. Everything Pop also has a gift shop and sundries. It has… well… everything! For breakfast I had a chocolate croissant that I popped in the microwave they had there for about 20 seconds and it was prefect and melty. Mark had a yogurt parfait and Matt had a cinnamon roll.


The Everything Pop from the seating area.


Sorry Marky! Is it still too early for pictures? Mark enjoys his parfait… really.

After breakfast we headed to the bus area armed with hot chocolate in our mugs. Unfortunately it started raining while we were waiting for the bus to arrive. Thank goodness for our trusty ponchos!


Matt and Mark are unhappy about the rain.

Once we arrived at Epcot we were about 20 minutes early and they weren’t letting people in quite yet. We tried our best to stay under cover out of the wind and rain. As soon as they started letting guests in we headed over to the special Cast Member entrance. The Cast Member tried to scan Mark’s main gate pass and it wouldn’t work. She called over a lead and the lead couldn’t get it to work. She said she had been gone for a few weeks and they took out the special scanner needed to scan Disneyland Cast Member passes. She suggested we go to guest relations. So through the rain we trudged aaaaall the way to the other side of the entrance to Guest Relations. There was a great CM there. A cute old guy named Howard. He told us the other CM’s were wrong and called over to the gate to tell them how to do it correctly. He apologized profusely and told us to tell them Howard sent us if we had any problems. We didn’t and we were soon in Epcot!


If you can’t tell, that’s Space Ship Earth. It practically blends in with the gray sky!


No rain can stop our fun!

We rode Space Ship Earth. We all loved that ride. We all decided that the scene with Rome burning smelled like BBQ sauce. It made me think of Chili’s and every time we went through that room I sang “Chili’s baby back ribs…. I want my baby back ribs!” In the scene in Egypt there is a large man by the Pharaoh that Mark and I think is a drag queen. Mark’s favorite line from the ride was “Terry San… you are one cool dude” and said it through out the trip after that. I have never in my life seen a ride that uses so many fiber optics. It was pretty cool to see.

After Space Ship Earth we went to Innoventions (East or West… I can’t remember!). Its so much more interesting than Disneyland’s! There were actually fun things to do here!


Matt and Mark play with the virtual pond.


Yay! Smashing TV’s with sledgehammers is fun!


We sent a few picture emails to people.


If you are not in my family (or Mark or Matt who I explained this to) then you probably won’t get why this picture is so funny but my family will get a kick out of it.

After all the Innoventions Fun (Innfunventions?) we decided to try Mission Space. A little background for you about me. I am a teeny bit claustrophobic. Small spaces = bad. Small dark spaces = really bad. Small dark spaces where I am confined = VERY BAD! To top it off… motion simulators like Star Tours have been known to make me dizzy. And for those of you that don’t know… Mission Space contains all of these. You smoosh 4 people in a tiny tiny box and then get spun like a dradle. And I was about to go on it!


Sure looks pretty on the outside!


One last picture together before I’m crammed into a sardine can.


Oof! Its heavy!


Copy Cat!


What are they worried about? I’m the one afraid of small spaces!

We went inside and stood on our numbers. Lieutenant Dan from Forrest Gump told us about our mission. “Lieutenant Dan! You got new legs!!” He warned me that I could get sick. Thanks for watching out for me Dan! The doors opened and we followed the Cast Member to our corresponding numbers inside. She left us and Lieutenant Dan came back on the TV screen above us. He gave us our assignments. YES! I was the Commander! Haha guys! That means you have to listen to me! And then… it was time to board. Ok… I can do this. Its not so bad. The little room is attached to an arm which is attached to a biiiiig spinney thing and there are something like 6 or 8 cars like ours. We get in and sit down. Out little cabin can hold just 4 people. I lower the over the shoulder safety restraint. Ok… just remember to breathe, Beth. And then… ACK! The front wall is getting closer as the whole freakin’ cabin is closing in on its self. By the time the cabin is closed there is maybe a foot from my nose to the “window” I’m supposed to be looking out of. And I don’t dare turn my head to look at anyone because Lieutenant Dan told me 500 times if he told me once… DO NOT TURN YOUR HEAD. It will make you spew. So I didn’t. I looked straight ahead and tried not to hyperventilate. Mark grabbed my hand to make sure I was ok. And I’m happy to say… I did survive. I did my duty as commander and pushed the buttons I needed to and I came back feeling dizzy and with a headache but I lived. I think it’s a good ride… but its not a great one for me. In fact it’s probably the only ride ever I didn’t really enjoy but I think that had more to do with the confined quarters than anything else. It was time for some tamer stuff until my breathing returned to normal.


Ellen makes me laugh. Also Bill Nye the Science Guy is in this ride. Once when I lived in Seattle I saw him eating across from me in a fancy restaurant. He was with a bunch of men all wearing bow ties. LOL!


More Innoventions Fun! We helped put out fires and our tem won because we are good at spotting fire hazards. Don’t leave your curling irons on top of towels people!


Matt is amazed at all the fiber optics.


We headed to Club Cool to try the drinks. This is Mark and Matt trying the infamous Beverly.


Matt recoils in disgust at the taste.


Mark savors the taste. No kidding! He liked it. It actually wasn’t that bad. It’s the after taste that’s killer. Bleck!

We rode Figment. It was… interesting. Matt really liked it. After that we decided to check out the World Showcase. We went to Canada and watched O Canada! Matt was unimpressed. Mark and I liked it ok but I decided they need to install chairs that swivel in there so you can see the 360 degree movie without standing. We looked at all the pavilions and had Fish and Chips in the UK Pavillion. Mmmm! It was really good. Some of the best I’ve ever had. And I lived in seafood city.


“I want to have grown-up fun. Spoon and figgy pudding. Rabbitown dum druggary’s hollow.”


We’re bobbies! Don’t mess with us.


Watch out for the Poppins!


Bonjour, mon nom est Mark. Je suis un diable attirant!


Mon nom est Matt et ma peinture est magnifique!


Je suis Beth. Mes lèvres sont pouty et kissable.


As you can tell I’m more interested in the Éclair than the picture.


Matt makes friends with a cream puff…


And finds a chair attached to his back pack when he stands up. LOL! I laughed till my stomach hurt.


We found a belly dancer in Morocco. Psh… I can do that.


See… I told you!


Nice Fez’s guys!


Matt poses next to Super Happy Fun Robot in Japan.


Wow are we ever white in that picture!




Mark and I celebrate our Italian heritage in Italy.


And Matt makes out with a local.


Don’t hate because we’re so cool.


Mark looks like he could be in the Rat Pack.

We visited the exhibit in China about Hong Kong Disney. They had some great concept art there and a display of the costumes worn by their CM Ambassadors. They were beautiful!


Mark seems confused as to why he’s an astronaut in China.


Mushu! He was a big flirt.


I had to give Buddha a big hug. He just looks so happy!


Matt and I sure love the hats!


Just look away now and pretend you saw nothing…

We road Maelstrom on Norway. What an odd little ride. I thought it was hilarious and enjoyed it even if it was a little on the short side. The gift shop at the exit was full of troll items.




That troll is getting fresh with me!


Matt and I make some attractive blondes!


This was right before we rode El Rio Del Tiempo (I hope I spelled that correct). Awe… Look how much we love each other!

Somewhere in all of that we ate dinner in China at the Lotus Blossom. We had Orange Chicken and Egg Rolls. It was pretty good. I’m not much of a fan of fast food Chinese but it was some of the best I’ve ever had. Then we staked out a spot for Illuminations and attempted to stay warm. The rain stopped but the wind was wicked cold and cut right through us. We huddled under our ponchos until Illuminations started.

And I was unimpressed. Ack… I’m going to be banned from the Disney community now! I really loved the music and I loved the beginning that the end. It was just the middle with the spinning globe and nothing else going on that bored me to tears. I was expecting to love it but… yawn. LOL! Mark and Matt seemed to like it though although Mark agreed the middle was a tad slow.

We walked back to the bus stop and had to stand all the way back to the hotel. Once we got there Mark and I picked out dessert. He got cookied and I got the Tie Dyed cheesecake. It looks like playdough but it was really tasty!


Dessert or childhood modeling clay? You decide.