Laffites Landing
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2011
Introduction
Hello there and welcome to my trip report! My name is Laffites Landing. Why Laffites Landing? I gave myself that name due to the sign hanging from the load zone on the Pirates of Caribbean in Disneyland. Pirates of the Caribbean has always been my favorite ride and thus I wanted a name to distinguish that point about me. Here is a picture of that sign:
003 by LaffitesLnding, on Flickr
In early 2011, my family made the faithful decision to leave the friendly confines of California and travel across the country to visit the other theme park in Orlando, Florida. I managed to get two weeks in a row off from my job and we made the choice to go to Walt Disney World in June of 2012!
This was going to be the first trip for my wife (whom I will call Mrs. Laffite or DW) and I since an off-site trip back in 1998 when we were just barely married. This trip was going to be taken in part to celebrate what was now our 15th wedding anniversary.
This also was going to be the very first time our two children (one boy who we will call Laffite Junior or DS and one girl who we will call Princess Laffite or DD) were to see the Orlando parks after dozens of day trips to Disneyland.
Here are the cast of characters:
Laffites Landing:
Me at Citrico's by LaffitesLnding, on Flickr
Hello there. I am Laffite. I am a 42 year man living in Southern California. I work for a major communications company and have my held my job for many years. I am currently in school and pursuing a Bachelors in Business Administration. I was born in Southern California and went to Disneyland many times as a child. I moved to Illinois and lived there for about 8 years while I grew up. I became a fan of sports teams like the Chicago Cubs and Chicago Bears and then returned to Southern California. I attended Disneyland a dozen or so times during the 80s and all through the 90s. In 2007, my family and I decided to get annual passes for Disneyland and it was at this time that we became far more passionate about the place. In the next 5 years, we went to Disneyland well over 50 times and became very familiar and passionate about the park. I really love going to Disneyland and I love the way it makes my kids feel. We are postponing our next trip to Disneyland until spring of 2013 but cant wait to see Carsland, Buena Vista street and all the other changes that have occurred at the parks.
Mrs. Laffite:
Wife enjoying a cocktail at Teppan Edo by LaffitesLnding, on Flickr
This is my beautiful wife. She puts up with my sometimes expensive hobbies which often involve Disney. Mrs. Laffite enjoys downtime and spending time at the beach and the pool. She is also a huge fan of Space Mountain and Star Wars (and thus Star Tours!). In 1998, we went to Disney World together. We didnt plan the trip but rather we winged it. We ended up having a pretty great time but I assured her that we could do better. I think that she now agrees!
Laffite Junior:
Son with Beach Donald by LaffitesLnding, on Flickr
This is our 11 year old son! Laffite jr loves everything about space and villains. In fact, he loves villains so much that we had a hard time getting him to embrace posing with non-villain characters in Disneyworld! We always have the same problem at Disneyland. Anyway, he also loves Donald Duck and has the Ducks personality. Hes very intelligent (as you will see by his Sum of All Thrills creation) but has Aspergers Syndrome which makes him socially awkward at times. Overall, Laffite Jr handled most of the challenges presented by a first WDW vacation very well. He probably could have lived without so many signature restaurants, but overall, he especially enjoyed Epcot. To him and to the rest of us, Epcot presented a park that was nothing like anything we have here in either the Disneyland resort or surrounding parks. We ended up staying in an Epcot resort which meant several trips to Epcot were in order!
Princess Laffite:
Daughter before Cinderella's Royal Table by LaffitesLnding, on Flickr
This is our seven year old angel! Princess Laffite doesnt look it but she is a big time thrill seeker. We only rode Rock N Roller Coaster one time but she still says it was her favorite ride in the whole resort! She is a big time lover of Princesses and even though we did manage numerous meetings with Princesses, I think she would like more. There were a couple of things we did wrong on this trip. One of them may have been how long the trip was. By the end of the trip, it was too much for Princess Laffite as she was beset with fever and stomach issues by the end of the trip. As gung ho as any of us, Princess Laffite tried her best to make a go of it and did a good job sucking it up for our final evening in the resort.
Well, now that we have introduced everyone, its time for me to start the trip report. Well see if I can add as many pictures as possible (although there were times when taking pictures was a challenge). I am looking forward to sharing this all with you.
Prologue
Day 1
Arrival Day
Lunch at Coral Reef