I used to always take my glasses off too - hated that I couldn't see a darned thing during the ride. I now have contacts that I only wear when we're doing Theme Parks or when I'm riding motorcycles or we're hiking. I LOVE being glasses-free for these activities!
I didn't even notice the phone! That's funny! DD & I were talking about our trip to Cedar Point last night and she was talking asking about losing her hat or shoes on a roller coaster. I told her that's why you don't wear loose shoes or hats on rides like that. I'd definitely put that phone in my pocket. But I am too scared of coasters to get on anyway. The Iron Dragon (at Cedar Point) is the only 1 I'll go on because it hangs down off the track so I can look up & see we are still connected. I know it's crazy, but it's makes sense to me.Originally Posted by Rogue 35
Day 4 Monday May 7th
We started out this day with a taxi ride over to the Grand Floridian for a 9:15 breakfast at 1900 Park Fare. If you’d like, you can read my review here. It far surpassed my expectations and the fun my Mom had with Mary Poppins would have made it worth it if nothing else, but everything else was wonderful too. My mom was like a kid again and we are still talking about it! Here’s a picture of DS with the Mad Hatter:
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Afterward, the kids were beyond thrilled to finally RIDE one of those monorails they kept seeing! Hmmm, my mom took 696 pictures and my husband and I were each close to 200 but none of us thought to take that…go figure.
Since Epcot was most recommended today, that’s where we went for a focus on World Showcase. We did a little shopping in Mousegear first, for Mom, then made a stop in the Pixie Hollow Garden that was part of the Flower & Garden Festival. DD LOVES this magic shot of herself with wings:
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Afterward we headed to Canada to begin our grand tour. As we went around the World Showcase it became DH’s job to scope out the Kidcot stations and take the kids there to get their passports stamped while mom & I did a little shopping and looking around. We lucked out and ran into fun in almost every country. In the UK, the kids got a call in the red phone booths and watched the Showcase Players put on a show. We arrived in France just as Serveur Amusant was beginning. Mom saw an artist in France and wanted the kids' picture done so we stopped for a bit to do that:
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In Japan, we saw Matsuriza which I had really been looking forward. The kids bought paper fans which the CMs wrote their names in Japanese on the back of and they did Pick A Pearl, which I’d also kept a surprise. They were very excited to pick their pearl and see what size pearl they’d chosen. They couldn’t believe they were real pearls.
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We had a very late lunch/early dinner at Liberty Inn at the American Adventure after getting pictures with Buzz and Woody. We all just loved all the topiaries at Epcot.
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Next we headed to Italy and then checked out the train in Germany which DS really liked. The kids pressed pennies everywhere we went. Then we took the friendship boat back across and enjoyed Mission Space one last time before heading out for the day.
The next day was a bit of a break day with nothing planned but a little shopping at Downtown Disney but I still had a few surprises up my sleeves for everyone. :)
Last edited by meg1214; 05-30-2012 at 09:33 PM.
Edited that post several times because I couldn't get the pictures to load...hope it worked now. Looks like it did.
Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Can't wait to read more.
Robin
April 2004 POFQ, April 2005 CBR, April 2006 POR, June 2007 CSR, August 2008 POFQ, June 2009 OKW,
June 2010 BWV, March 2011 CBR, June 2012 POP, Nov/Dec 2012 ASMo, June 2013 CSR
Yep, they're showing up now! I agree with your daughter, the pic of her with the fairy wings is really cute!
Day 5 Tuesday May 8th Break day
We started off break day with a yummy breakfast at Boma right at our resort. It seemed practically deserted when we went so I don’t know if we missed the early morning rush with a 9:30 ADR or what. Everything was delicious. We all loved the juice. The turkey was heavenly. The pastries were so good. You can read more about it here if you’d like. I'm not the best with the restaurant reviews but there is a picture! LOL.
We then decided to go ahead and hop on a bus for Downtown Disney. We decided to get off at Pleasure Island because we wanted to do Characters in Flight. That was probably not something I’d do again, but it was nice to do once. Afterward, we did some serious shopping. I had seen the pictures of the Lego creations outside the Lego store but everyone else was so surprised by them. Of course, we took lots of pictures. I wish they had signs saying how many legos each one took and how long they took to make.
Then we headed into the Toy Store and DS & DH had fun making a lightsaber together, which of course we then had to buy. J Next, we went into Little Mismatched and found a few pairs of mismatched socks for DD who is really into that right now along with smelly socks-fruit scented. We did this while DS was building his own remote control car at Ridemakerz! He really loved that.
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DD made her own T-shirt at Design-A-Tee too. She thought that was just great. They weren't busy at all and said it would only take a few minutes but we left it to pick up after lunch which was a surprise for mom, Wolfgang Puck Express. I'm not sure why, but she loves Wolfgang Puck. She didn’t even know the restaurant was here and was really excited. She had to take a picture to prove to my dad she ate there. I had the bacon wrapped meatloaf and mashed potatos after seeing a review by Josh because they looked sooo good. They didn't let me down. Yum. Everyone else had pizza. DH said it was really good.
We spent the rest of the afternoon & evening exploring our resort. The kids swam, played in the arcade, and participated in some of the activities there, including the Primal Parade they have in the lobby every night.
Then early to bed for the all important Magic Kingdom rope drop and boy did we have a great day.
Day 6 Wednesday May 9 Magic Kingdom!
I think I would have to say this was the best touring day we had. We arrived about 8:30 and were a bit back from the rope on the left in line with a tree for some shade which was actually nice and placed us in a decent place to still see the opening show which we had never seen before. When the rope dropped, we headed straight down Main St, high “fouring” CMs as we went, through the Castle to Peter Pan’s Flight. Jasmine passed us on the way and said hello to DD. That was a nice little surprise. And before we did anything else, DS had to stop and try to get the sword out of the stone in front of the Carrousel.
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We walked right on Peter Pan, then grabbed Fastpasses for it. I think these were for 10:00. I posted the rides this day before and said 10:15 but after I thought about it, I think it was 10:00.
Anyhow, then we walked right on Winnie the Pooh, Teacups, and Snow White. I was really glad Snow White’s Scary Adventures was still open while we were there. At each ride we came to the kids would ask me if this ride was here or if I rode this ride when I came when I was younger. I told them I did ride Snow White but that they were closing it down at the end of the month and we were all really lucky we were getting to ride it before they did.
Then we continued our tour with It’s a Small World and the Carrousel for DH & the kids while mom & I took a quick break. Next we used our fastpasses at Peter Pan, then headed to Haunted Mansion, still a walk on. Next up was Magic Carpets for everybody while I ran and got fastpasses for Splash Mountain. Then came Jungle Cruise which was truly the only thing we waited for all day, I’d say about 15 minutes. Then we walked through Swiss Family Treehouse. My kids, especially my son, love that movie. Then another walk on at Pirates of the Caribbean. Then DH & the kids did Splash Mountain while mom & I had an ice cream. Not sure who had more fun?
They decided they weren’t going to go again, so we gave away our 2 extra fastpasses to 2 very happy people, then boarded the train for Fantasyland. DS loves trains so I had to work this ride in for him somewhere and this worked out perfectly. When we got off I was a little lost for a minute but then followed the path right up to Tomorrowland where I got fastpasses for Space Mountain before we did the Speedway (ugh) for my son and then Buzz Lightyear. I didn’t particularly care for Buzz Lightyear. Toy Story Mania probably had me spoiled since we did it first but I couldn’t figure out what I was shooting at because I felt like I could see more lasers than just mine. You can take my word for it, right? You don't really need to see the ride photo of how confused I look?
Next up was lunch at Cosmic Ray’s. DH’s comment: “There’s not a kid in here paying attention to that guy.” So don’t go just because you think your kids will enjoy the show…there really weren’t any paying attention. It’s really too loud in there anyway.
After lunch, DH took both kiddos on Space Mountain. Mom & I tried to go on TTA but it was broken down. Here’s the funny picture from Space Mountain:
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DS would never go on it again. He said it hurt his neck. I wasn’t surprised after everything I’d read about it. DH & DD used the last 2 fastpasses for SM while DS played in the arcade. Then we did Monsters Inc Laugh Floor which everyone thought was really funny and Carousel of Progress. DD put that as one of her favorite things for the day, after Space Mountain of course. Mom didn’t like it because it skipped too much time, namely her growing up years, I think. I told her they had refurbished it to update and probably obviously only had room for so much. But she didn’t care for that answer.
Afterward, we did Philharmagic again which everyone loved again, then Hall of Presidents-why does that seem totally different from what I remember?-and Country Bear Jamboree. Then it was almost time for dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern so we checked in and had a wonderful dinner there. Mmmm. The pork was sooo good. DH & DM really loved it. You can read my review here if you like. I have to say, of course I chose things I thought everyone would like, but I was nervous about their reaction to my choices since they didn’t give much input. "We trust you, we trust you!" was all I heard when I tried to show them a menu or get them to pick between 2 restaurants. I was pleasantly surprised at how much they enjoyed all the restaurants we ate at.
We finished the day off with some photopass pictures on our way out of Magic Kingdom.
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I LOVE this picture of my son!!! The photographer had just done a magic shot with Tinkerbell and caught this most adorable, precious grin on his face. To me, this is better than any school or planned photo. I just LOVE it!
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We had a really great day at Magic Kingdom!
And the next day we would be off to Animal Kingdom…
I am loving your trip review!!! Your children are beautiful, and that picture of your son is priceless. What great memories you have made. Can't wait for AK.
Great trip report. Your kids are adorable. I love the ride photos. The expressions are priceless. Can only hope my trip at the end of June goes as smoothly.
You got so many great Photopass pictures. I'm lucky if I get 2 or 3 decent ones. The wings on your DD one is adorable. Yes, the look on your son's face is precious. I love your DH on SM. He is as cool as a cucumber while the kids are in pure ride mode. Good job on a great MK day.
More awesome pics, and another excellent day! I hope your family appreciates how smooth everything went because of all the pre-trip homework you did
Jill
DD-Hannah (10)
June 2008 @ Pop Century
November 2010 @ Pop Century
http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showth...ber-19-27-2010
Thank you. I think the picture is priceless too!
I loved the ride photos too. When we go to our home park, Cedar Point, I always say no to the ride pics. My goal was not to say no the whole time we were there (lofty goal) and I believe I succeeded. Photopass plus helped a lot. It was easy and a good value for all the pictures we got, I felt. I do love looking at their faces! I hope your trip goes great as well!
Thank you. I forgot to mention we had lunch around 12:00/12:15. It was later than I'd planned but we sort of got into 1 more ride mode for a little whole. So I think I counted 16 rides by noon which we all felt really great about. The kids had a blast.
And after all those rides, yes they were really beginning to appreciate my crazy obssession with all things Disney before we left!More awesome pics, and another excellent day! I hope your family appreciates how smooth everything went because of all the pre-trip homework you did
Thanks Jill! Finishing up AK now and working on my shutterfly picture book of the trip at the same time.
Animal Kingdom Day Part 1
Is it Day 7 already? You know most vacations I would be counting down the days til I had to get back to reality and at first I thought this one would be even worse because it would be the best ever and I’d never want it to end. So I had to promise myself I wouldn’t even think about what day we were on and just stay in the moment all the time. I think I did a pretty good job of that. I think we all did because on our last night there DS said, “How can we be leaving? You said it was 9 days and it’s only been 3 or 4!” I thought the time would fly by like that for me but it didn’t. Every day seemed to be just long enough, we had so much fun. I can’t explain it but it was just perfect.
Anyway, moving on to day 7. My big mess up. I guess I’m allowed 1 mess up on our trip after how smoothly things went, but I’m getting ahead of myself. We’ll get to that.
We didn’t set our alarms Thursday because we didn’t plan to be to AK til 9:30 or 10. We are early risers and knew we’d be up in plenty of time without an alarm. We got counter service breakfast at Mara (love those Mickey waffles) and ate it in our rooms as we finished getting ready. My mom texted to tell me there was a photopass photographer in the lobby so we ran down to get some photos. They turned out pretty nice. Here’s a couple of the best:
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Then we hopped on a bus for our shortest bus ride of the trip, a quick 5 minutes if that to AK. Yay! We headed straight to Primeval Whirl. DH took the kids on while I ran to get fastpasses for Expedition Everest. They rode it, got off, got in “line” again. (There was no line.) They rode it the second time. The CM asked if they wanted to go again so they did. The CM asked if they wanted to go AGAIN so they did a fourth time! By then I was back with the fastpasses and we headed to Dinosaur. Here’s the picture of the giant scarey one jumping out at us toward the end:
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Then DH & DD rode EE twice. Here’s a pic:
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Next we saw Nemo which everyone enjoyed. Then we took a little walk back to Africa to get fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris. I started to go one way and something told me to go another. I was hoping to see DiVine. So glad I chose the other way. I told DD who I was looking for, I’d shown her a picture beforehand, and we both kept our eyes peeled. We were soon rewarded with DiVine just untangling herself from a tree. How cool!!!
I ran to get the fastpasses and came back to find DD dancing with the band in Africa:
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Both my kids love to dance and are very good dancers-they take after their dad, not me, lol. DS gets his chance tomorrow.
To be continued...
My pictures were too big or something and that last one was from the Lodge, somehow ended up at the bottom of the post. I am definitely having technical difficulties with the pictures...
On our way back to Dinoland to get some lunch, we ran into another photopass guy. They were all over today. Here's a couple I liked a lot:
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Next we got a bite of lunch at Restaurantasaurus, then caught It’s Tough to be a Bug, which everyone LOVED before using our fastpasses for KS. We saw a pregnant giraffe. That was pretty neat. Afterward, we watched Festival of the Lion King, then got some more photopass pictures taken before the parade started.
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We watched that then headed to dinner at Rainforest Café a little early.
My big goof? What's missing from this day? Kali River Rapids! And DD noticed too! She was upset with me, but we used it as an excuse to turn our once in a lifetime trip into a first ever trip. The kids had already been asking and DH & I had been talking about it. Mom had even said she'd like to come back with me for a girls trip and stay at the GF and maybe just do Epcot and do Deluxe Dining the whole time. What a nice trip that would be!
But now I had a big decision to make. The next day was our last day at a park. And I couldn't decide whether to stick with the plan and head to MK to see MSEP & Wishes like I really wanted or go to Hollywood Studios for more RnR & ToT for the kids plus the other stuff we'd missed. Decisions, decisions and of course DH & DM said they'd go along with whatever I wanted. Thanks! What should I do???
One more pic at the Rainforest Cafe:
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Yea!!!! Excellent way to turn a mistake into an epic win!but we used it as an excuse to turn our once in a lifetime trip into a first ever trip
Agreed! And I love that pic of your husband on EE... He looks so chill in every other ride photo, so I love his expression!
And others have already commented the same, but I love the photo of your daughter with the wings and the close up one of your son too. Those are really beautiful shots!
I thought the same thing about him on that ride!!
Loving your TR!! We were there the same week last year - it makes me want to go back!
Can't wait to hear about your last day....
Your kids are absolutely adorable!
Jill
12/1998 - Offsite
4/2003 - CSR (convention)
2/2010 - CBR
5/2011 - CSR - trip report - http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showth...-with-pictures, http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showth...ort-Days-6-10.
10/2011 - Grand Floridian - trip report - http://www.easywdw.com/forums/showth...with-a-toddler
Great trip report!!!!!!!
MEDH
DS
Contemporary Resort Atrium CL December 2011
Contemporary Resort Atrium CL December 2012
NO TICKER!!!!!!!!!!! DHme
Day 8 I decided on Magic Kingdom. I really wanted to see Main Street Electrical Parade. There are a few things I remember from my trip when I was little: waiting in a very long, hot line for Haunted Mansion. I swear we waited FOREVER, the treehouse, not liking the Tiki Room (that’s why it wasn’t on our touring plan!), Country Bear Jamboree, Hall of Presidents (but wasn’t it different?), Small World, Peter Pan, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the PeopleMover, Carousel of Progress, sitting in a cinema on Main St watching old Mickey cartoons to cool off (is that the Mickey M&G now?).
I also remember Spaceship Earth, Figment, Imageworks being way cooler, Captain EO, Living with the Land, a show about eating good food, Universe of Energy (pre-Ellen), and the countries. Ok, so I remember a lot more than I thought, but I came home with tons of very dark, very blurry pictures from my kid Kodak camera of the Main St Electrical parade. I wanted my kids to see it as much I wanted to see it again.
So, we were off to Magic Kingdom rope drop again. We headed into Tomorrowland to grab fastpasses for Space Mountain. The line was short was DH & DD went ahead & hopped on. Mom, DS, & I went on PeopleMover. DS was not happy about this arrangement, but he actually didn’t mind the ride once he did it. While we were on it, I saw Chip and Dale meeting “somewhere.” At the start of the trip, I had purchased a 10 pack of postcards, pre-addressed & stamped them and was having favorite characters of my kids’ friends and mine autograph them to send home. Chip was the last one we were waiting on for DD’s best friend and there was no line for him at the moment! When we got off, I went running around as best I could on my bad ankle (did I mention I broke my ankle in December & it’s never completely healed right so it was very swollen?). Now, some of you who know WDW like the back of your hand would have been on TTA and seen them and known exactly where they were when you got off. I was lost! But I finally found them and thankfully, there was still no line. We got Chip’s autograph for DD & a cute pic too:
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Next we rode AstroOrbiter, then went over to the Speedway, which I didn’t really want to do again but we were still waiting on DH & DD. About the time we got in line he texted me to say they were going again. Ok. They finished as we were getting in a car so I told him to take her on AstroOrbiter if it wasn’t a long line. He did then they met us at the Speedway for the fastpasses which they used to ride 2 more times. Mom, DS, & I went to do Buzz again. DS decided to go on his own and quickly realized he could use both blasters:
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Mom & I still look totally confused in our picture. I never could figure out that ride. I even hit a 100,000 point target at 1 point and couldn’t tell you what it was if my life depended on it!
Afterward, he spent a little time in the arcade at Space Mountain while we waited on DH & DD. A photopass photographer was actually hanging around in there, which surprised me but we got some cute photos of him:
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Next, we did the Teacups, then got in line for Winnie the Pooh about 10:00 and said 20 minute wait. DH went to go grab fastpasses for Peter Pan. Not a good time to get in line, of course because fastpass folks are showing up, so 20 minutes turned into 40. At least the kids had fun in the interactive line. Afterward, we headed to Peter Pan. Afterward, I went to the back of the castle to see if the Fairy Godmother was out. Instead, I saw the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade was coming around the hub and I could see Woody! DD didn’t feel like running down there so she staying with Mom to do a little shopping but DH, DS, & I ran through the rose path and across the bridge, found Woody’s float and danced our hearts out. I wish I had a picture of DS dancing but I was too busy dancing myself. When they shot the Mickey head confetti out, DS picked up at least 25 of them and asked me to keep them so that “when we forget about our trip to Disney World, we will have these to remember it by.” I have them in a handy dandy Ziploc bag!
Afterward, we ate at Pinochio Village Haus. The boys were tired. DH actually did laundry in the DVC laundry room for me the night before so I wouldn’t have to do it on Mother’s Day when we got home. So they went back to the resort for a nap and we headed to Pirates of the Caribbean and got in line to see Princess Tiana, the one person DD really wanted to see. We got the BEST pictures of them:
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Afterward DD reminded me we were supposed to dance together on Main St so we did on our way to the monorail to head to 1900 Park Fare for dinner.
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We were sitting in the lobby waiting on DH & DD to get there in a taxi and DM went to buy a ridiculously expensive purse in 1 of their stores. I noticed people start lining up and something told me to go line up. I’m so glad we did because if you get seated at 4:30, you get to hear the characters announced as they enter the dining room. There’s a bit of fanfare, just a little something extra that was nice. You can read my review of 1900 Park Fare dinner here if you like. I had read such conflicting reviews about all the character meals, especially 1900 Park Fare (both meals) but we had such wonderful experiences with both food & characters!
DD asked Prince Charming if he rode a horse today. He so quickly told her he had ridden all over the kingdom and asked if she had too. He was so great. Anastasia was great too.
After dinner, we took the monorail back to MK. I knew we could take the boat but my kids loved the monorail and we didn’t have many occasions to take it so we did any time we could. We did some shopping on Main St, pressed a million pennies, as we had throughout our trip. They more than halfway filled their pressed penny books. We saw the castle show again. Then DD wanted to do Splash Mountain but it was too long of a wait so Mom & I sat at Sleepy Hollow sharing a funnel cake while DH took the kids to Tomorrowland. Gregory talked them into TTA which only this morning he thought was boring. Then they made the mistake of trying Stitch’s Great Escape. I hadn’t put it on our touring plan, but I hadn’t told them why or warned them against it. Well, they found out for themselves. They said no one in there liked it.
Meanwhile, I saved a spot right by the bridge and Sleepy Hollow refreshments for them to sit and watch the parade. I got them some popcorn and DH & the kids watched the parade from there while mom & I sat at a table nearby. Afterward, they came to sit at the table with us and watch The Magic, the Memories, and You. I have to say that was my favorite show of the trip. It was just beautiful. Not the pictures so much but all the cool things they do to the castle. Then we walked across the bridge to Main St and there were places to squeeze in and watch the fireworks. What a great last night for our trip.
Tomorrow morning we get ready to leave. Sigh…
I really love finishing the trip with Magic, Memories and Wishes. There is just something very right about it. Makes leaving a tiny bit less painful.
Using both guns on Buzz Lightyear, I would have never thought of that!
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